A Spirited Gang-Star
by beefskellington
Summary: One is a fabulously dressed gangster with a terrifying supernatural power. The other is an android with a human heart and a really big axe. Pannacotta Fugo and Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Labrys couldn't be any more different, but when a terrifying new enemy surfaces in Italy, the two find themselves together on a bizarre adventure that may be their last.
1. A Robot in Italy Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Persona series or Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. All rights belong to their respective owners.**

* * *

 **Warning: Spoilers for Vento Aureo, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Purple Haze Feedback**

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 **Chapter One - A Robot in Italy Part 1**

 **Venice, Italy**

Two figures stood opposing each other on the Ponte della Liberta, and neither of them was human.

One was a girl in a light-colored Japanese high school outfit, covered in cuts and stained dark by the oil that poured from her wounds like blood. Her alloy-composed body was wracked with pain, though despite this her metal fingers were wrapped tight around the handle of a massive double-sided battleaxe, its blade dug into the ground besides her.

The other was a boy in the twilight of his teens. His features were muddied in darkness despite standing near a street light, his left eye covered by a purple eye patch decorated with a grinning skull. His hairstyle was unique to say the least, consisting of blonde cornrows shaped like lengths of chain. His attire consisted of a red hoodie with light grey sleeves, with the words "LOVE" and "PEACE" lining each sleeve respectively.

Unlike the girl, he appeared to be made of flesh and blood, looked more human than she did. But she knew better than to be deceived by his appearance, as evidenced by the message scrolling across her piercing crimson eyes.

 **UNIDENTIFIED HOSTILE ORGANISM DETECTED…**

 **...EXERCISE EXTREME CAUTION**

"Tch," The girl sucked on her teeth. She wished her sensors had displayed the phrase "ELIMINATE ENEMY SHADOW" like she was used to. Shadows, monsters birthed from humanity's collective mind, were things she could at least understand. She had been created solely to hunt down Shadows after all, which was very _very_ unfortunate that her current opponent wasn't one, at least not of the normal variety.

"You're name was Labrys right?" The boy calmly whispered. He opened his palm towards her. "I believe you have something that belongs to me. I'd like it back please."

As calm the boy was, as soft and honeyed his voice was, Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Labrys could sense his overwhelming murderous intent leaking into the air, causing the atmosphere to rumble with menacing tension.

 _ **ゴゴゴ**_ _ **...**_ _ **ゴゴゴ**_ _ **...**_ _ **ゴゴゴ**_ _ **...**_ _ **ゴゴゴ**_ _ **...**_ _ **ゴゴゴ**_ _ **...**_

Escape wasn't an option. The second she turned her back, she knew the creature was going to tear her apart without a second thought. She had only one option and that was to fight.

She yanked her axe from the ground and brandished it in front of her with bold hands on the handle. Her legs were wobbly, her hands shaky, but her red eyes burned with determination.

The boy flinched upon meeting the gynoid's intense stare. He then sighed and proceeded to pop his neck twice like a fighter about to enter the ring.

"Guess it can't be helped. We're 'natural enemies' after all."

He removed his eye patch, exposing his left eye. An eye that could not have belonged to any human.

It was the same shape and size as his other, far more normal eye, but was completely gold throughout and lacked anything in the way of discernible irises or pupils. Instead, its glossy surface was covered in an array of vertical lines.

The moment the eye began to glow, the air began to rumble with more tension than before.

 _ **ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ**_

A single phrase escaped the boy's lips.

" **「** Don't Fear **」** the Reaper."

Veins of pure darkness erupted outward from the boy's monstrous eye, enveloping his entire being within a fraction of a second. The cocoon of shadow vanished just as quickly as it had formed, disintegrating away to reveal the humanoid abomination that now stood in the boy's place.

It was roughly six feet tall with a semi-muscular build, its attire consisting of a long trench coat with tattered ends, its grey hands casually tucked into its pockets. It had only one visible feature on its shadow obscured face, which was a single glowing left eye. The same kind of vertically-striped eye that the boy had.

Labrys tensed, her grip on her axe tightening out of reflex. A sense of dread crept down her artificial spine as the familiar sound reached her auditory sensors. A dread-inducing rattling that came from the chains criss-crossing around the creature's torso like belts, shaking with the slightest movement.

The creature moved its left hand out of its pocket, something glinting around it as the light of the streetlights struck it.

At first, Labrys thought it had pulled out a weapon, a gun of sorts. Upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't holding anything at all, merely pointing a finger at her. Her initial observation wasn't entirely off, for its finger _was_ a gun, its tip shaped like the slender barrel of a old west revolver. In fact, she noticed that all of its fingertips ended in gun barrels, with its thumb resembling a blunt-nosed derringer.

The gynoid thought it was going to attack with its gun-fingers, only to see it reached into the folds of its coat to pull out a sausage-shaped object.

A mouth formed on the surface of its face, revealing it to be lined with pearly white teeth like the boy's once it opened them to put the object inside it. It tapped the end of the object with its thumb, igniting it with a miniature burst of heat.

When it took the object out of its mouth and it blew a ring of smoke out of its newly formed lips, Labrys realized it was a cigar.

"You know, back when I was a regular **「** Shadow **」** , I wouldn't have been able to appreciate the aroma of a genuine Toscano cigar," The creature said. Its voice contrasted heavily with the boy's, having a commanding yet soothing baritone to it, like that of a Jazz singer's.

It turned to Labrys, its eye narrowing.

"It helps keep my mind off things...like the rather ugly act of violence I'm about to commit in this beautiful place."

Its lips curled into a wide, bemused grin.

"You're shaking Anti-Shadow Suppression Unit. What a very _human_ gesture for a machine."

Labrys clenched her teeth.

Had she the option, she would've called forth her Persona, a physical manifestation of her psyche. She was far past the point where she could call it forth, her strength down to the point where it was even a struggle to stand with her weapon in hand.

But she wasn't entirely out of tricks just yet.

"Screw you!" Labrys roared, her accent shining through her words.

With axe in hand, she launched a forearm outward like a rocket, extending along a length of chain. The thrusters housed in the sides of the axe's blade activated, amplifying the momentum of her swing tenfold.

The blade ripped through the air, creating a sonic clap like the cracking of a whip as it broke the sound barrier. Labrys could already picture the outcome in her mind. The axe would cleave through the creature's head, cutting it down like so many monsters before it.

Only that didn't happen. Instead, the axe flew completely over its mark, leaving the creature without a scratch.

Labrys's eyes widened. She recoiled her arm and brought the axe around, only for it to miss again. And again.

Her swings increased in ferocity and speed until the arc of her swings turned into twisting blurs around the creature, but the axe only managed to hit emptiness each time. The bastard wasn't even putting up an effort to dodge, merely nudging its weight slightly one way or another or lightly shifting its feet. It was as if her axe was purposefully avoiding its intended target.

 _What the hell is this? Why can't I hit him?!_

"Please…" The creature flicked away its cigar, sliced into ashy ribbons as it entered Labrys's relentless barrage around it. Its hand, now freed, lashed out with blinding speed to successfully snatch Labrys's wrist mid-swing, abruptly putting a stop to her attacks. It squeezed, causing the gynoid to wince in pain, forcing the axe out of her hand. The unwieldy weapon fell, its blade biting into the concrete of the iconic bridge.

"Haven't you noticed?" The creature said with contempt. "You were already under the influence of my **「** ability **」** long before you took the first swing."

Labrys looked at her arm, finally taking notice of the markings that she could've sworn weren't there before. Markings that resembled shadows in the shape of chains, snaking around her red forearm gauntlets like serpents.

She turned her attention to her own body and saw that the shadowy chains had spread beyond just her arm. Her entire body had been ensnared, to the point where the chains covered even her clothes.

However, they weren't the most alarming thing she noticed by far.

 _W-what...what the hell?_

Sprouting out of her chest and clipping through her clothes like a hologram was a black box layered on top of a differently shaped red box, its surface displaying a series of letters that alternated between white and black.

 **LU/PRECISION**

Next to the words was a red number shown in a circle.

 **-50%**

The creature released its hold on Labrys's forearm, causing it forcibly to retract and snap back into place with the rest of the gynoid's arm. She barely had time to recover from the sudden recoil before the creature vanished into a blur, coming upon her in an instant. It grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up off her feet before her computer brain could so much as process where it was.

As a machine, she didn't breathe, couldn't be strangled or suffocated. But as she felt her throat being steadily crushed by the vice-like grip of her opponent, she could not help but let out a painful, choking gasp.

"I'm done playing games, Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon."

The creature's eye had changed, its lines gone. A tiny, cross-shaped pupil sat at the center of the eye, encircled by a targeting retina like those found inside the scope of a sniper rifle. Small veins could be seen around the eye's edges. It snarled, exposing its sharpened incisors, its breath rancid with smoke.

"I won't ask again," The cross-hair in the creature's eye rotated, with Labrys's reflection seen within it. "Where is the **「** Arrow of Miracles **」**? "

Labrys looked up at the creature. She spat a wad of oil right at its face.

The creature snarled viciously and jerked its head away.

"As if I'd ever tell!" Labrys yelled.

The creature looked back at the gynoid, its eyes widened in rage, now covered in more veins. A dark splotch could be seen dripping just around the corner of its eye where her spit had landed.

"That **「** Arrow **」** of yours…" Labrys continued. She trembled as she spoke, her features darkening. "It turns normal **「** Shadows **」** into more **「** stripe-eyed monsters **」** like you!"

The Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon felt a trembling in her heart, no longer from fear but from a newfound resolve. A resolve to protect all of her beloved friends and the world she made an unbreakable vow to protect.

Even if it meant her life.

"If I ever told you where it was...I wouldn't be able ta live with myself! So ya can forget tryin' to get anythin' out of me, ya one eyed chain-wearin' freak! Because no matter how hard ya beat me...no matter how much ya torture me...I won't tell ya a damn thing!"

The creature pursed its lips. Its eye returned to its normal striped form as its expression relaxed. It sniffed the air like a dog would despite a clear lack of a nose.

"The **「** Arrow **」**...its hidden inside your heart, isn't it?"

Labrys froze. She could feel a twist of horror in the pit of where her stomach would have been, if she had a stomach. "H-How...how did you-"

"I couldn't notice it from afar," The creature interjected. "The scent of the **「** Plume of Dusk **」** fragment that serves as your heart did a good job of masking the scent of the **「** Arrow **」** , but from this close, I could practically feel its kindred energy resonating with the essence of my body...with my very soul."

The creature smirked. "That was pretty clever, masking the presence of the **「** Arrow **」** with an artifact of **「** equal power **」**..."

The box in Labrys's chest retracted out of existence, instantaneously replaced by another one. One that said " **EN/DURABILITY** ", with a number that quickly went from **0%** to **-50%** , turning from white to an alarming red.

"Wha-"

The creature pressed its index finger against Labrys's stomach.

"I admire your tenacity...I really do. But you're a fool if you think you can halt the **「** inevitable **」** , Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon."

A large bang ripped through the air, accompanied by a bright flash that filled the gynoid's vision. After that, the whole world around her dissolved into an endless black.

* * *

 **The Next Day...**

Venice, Italy. A place of beauty and culture. Listed as a UNESCO Heritage Site, the City of Canals has a long standing reputation as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, attracting approximately twenty million visitors from various corners of the globe each year.

But no matter how iconic or scenic a place is, there was always ugliness hiding just beneath its surface.

Ugliness, like a man being beaten nearly to death behind one of the city's more obscure alleyways, tucked away from the prying eyes of tourists.

"You learned your lesson yet, asshole?" The man doing the beating said. A series of three blonde bangs hung down the front of his face, his lime green suit covered in holes that exposed the black dress shirt he wore underneath. The tie around his neck was black and lined with strawberries.

His name was Pannacotta Fugo, feared capo of the powerful Passione syndicate.

And the man he was beating had the unfortunate circumstance of being caught dealing cocaine on Passione territory.

"P-please…" The man whispered. He didn't get to finish before Fugo kneed him in the nose. He fell to the ground, blood spurting from his now broken nostrils. The gangster reached down and yanked him on his feet by the collar of his gaudy, stained disco suit that looked like it was a relic from the age of Disco, slamming him against the graffiti-covered wall.

"Huh? What?" Fugo cupped his ear. "Please beat you some more? Sure, that can be arranged, considering you just peddled drugs on our turf."

He cracked his knuckles, his eyes narrowing on the cowering drug dealer. "You must have a death wish pal."

He cocked his fist. The drug dealer winced and looked away with his head tucked between his elbows, waiting for the blow.

A blow that never came.

"But...my knuckles are getting tired from beating you senseless," Fugo rubbed his hands. "So I'll make a deal with you."

The drug dealer slowly looked up at Fugo with equal parts fear and confusion in his eyes.

Fugo bent down on his knees and placed gentle palm on his shoulder. He flashed the drug dealer a warm smile. "You tell me the identity of your suppliers, and I won't beat you anymore."

The drug dealer swallowed. "What...what are you going to do to them?"

Fugo stroked his chin, pretending to ponder a thought. "Well, I was thinking of hanging their corpses up on some power cables, kinda like what happened to the victims in those strange murders that happened in Japan a few years back. Or I could just chop them up into little pieces and feed em' to the sharks in the Tyrrhenian Sea. There's many options to pick from."

The capo took notice of the drug dealer's fearful reaction.

"Look, it's either you or them," Fugo pressed his thumb hard against the drug dealer's greasy forehead, causing the latter to whimper. "You should consider the fact that I'm even giving you a choice in this matter to be a luxury, considering there's nothing stopping me from chopping _you_ into shark food. Capisce?"

The drug dealer was quick to change his tone.

"They're the Miranze gang!" The he blurted out without a moment's hesitation. "They're headquartered in Rome but have bases in all of central Italy!"

"The Miranze gang?" Fugo raised an eyebrow. "What the hell are you talking about? The Miranze gang is long gone."

He also happened to know the girl who took them all down, a secret that not a lot of peeps in the underworld knew about outside of Passione's inner circle.

"You better not be lying to me, asshole."

"It's the truth! Only the Miranze gang core membership was taken out! But word on the street is that only resulted in a power vacuum which allowed a few surviving low-ranking survivors to pick up the pieces and rebuild the gang! And those guys are the ones giving me my supply!"

"Huh...I see," Fugo tapped his cheek. "Names?"

"I...I don't know anyone. They just deliver my drugs in secret, but none of them would let slip

Fugo's smile vanished. "Not even one name?"

The capo squeezed the drug dealer's shoulder hard enough to cause him to howl.

"Wait wait wait! Alright! There's one guy I always meet! He acts as the liaison between me and the gang!" The drug dealer paused to catch his breath. "His name is Crudo Gamberetto! He's one of their enforcers! You want to find out about the rest of the gang, he's the man to look for! He lives in Rome like the rest of em'!"

Fugo grinned. "See? Was that so hard?"

The capo slammed his fist into the drug dealer's already mangled face with enough force to send him flying into the hall. He hit the wall with a shout, then rolled to the ground face down. He didn't get up after that.

Fugo stood up nonchalantly. He fixed his tie and withdrew coolly, leaving the drug dealer bleeding and unconscious in the alleyway without so much as a glance back.

He stopped as he felt his phone vibrate against his pants. Fugo pulled it out of his pocket and saw it was a number from the third most powerful man in all of Passione and the gang's number one sharp shooter. A man by the name of Guido Mista, who Fugo might've considered an equal twelve years ago when they were both operatives working under the same capo.

"Hey Mista, I was just about to call you," Fugo whispered. "I found out the identities of the ones behind the drug deals."

" _Oh? Surprise me,"_ Guido Mista responded.

"It's the Miranze gang."

There was a noticeable pause on the other line.

" _Are you friggin' serious? I thought Shiela E. toasted those guys._ "

"Apparently, she missed a spot. Some of the gang's smallfry survived and managed to revive it on their own."

" _Damn...that actually did surprise me,"_ Mista cursed. " _Anything else?_ "

"I have a name. Crudo Gamberetto. He's an enforcer and the in-between for the gang and our drug dealer friend. They're also stationed in Rome just like before. Idiots didn't even bother changing their base of operations."

Fugo's face became stern. "If you want Mista, I can take care of them all with my **「** Purple Haze **」**."

" _No. Don't bother. Anyone can assassinate a bunch of two-bit crooks. Come back to the safe house in Venice instead Fugo. We have another mission for you."_

"Huh?" Fugo replied. "A new mission?"

" _Yes. Its coming straight from Polnareff himself. And he's personally requested your presence there. And before you ask, I don't know diddly squat what the mission is. I'm just relayin' the message._ "

That was something Fugo wasn't expecting. He was used to being given assignments by Mista, who, despite being number three in the gang, barely changed from when they were still in the same team together back as operatives, including his continuing paranoia over the number four.

Polnareff was not only the organization's number two man, outranking even Mista, but he also happened to be the trusted concierge of Giorno Giovanna, Passione's current boss. Furthermore, he was the one left in charge of running the gang after Giorno had to leave the country to attend to "urgent family business" that he still has yet to return from, all stemming from his battle with a fanatical priest in Florida a few years back. An assignment coming from someone with that much influence must have been extremely important.

Which made Fugo ponder what the assignment could be and slightly nervous on why it was falling to him.

"I'll be there in five."

Fugo hanged up, hoping that his assignment wasn't going involve taking down enemy Stand-users, people like him who could summon Stands, manifestations of one's raw fighting spirit and soul.

He knew that was wishful thinking.

* * *

The safe house was fancier than the houses around it, more like a mansion. Then again, practically all of Passione's safe houses would have made pretty decent homes. The many perks of being the most affluent syndicate in all of the Italian peninsula.

The moment Fugo arrived by water taxi, he was ferried into a fancy dining room by a huge bodyguard wearing sunglasses and a suit.

"This way, Mr. Fugo," The guard said, holding the door open for him. "Mr. Polnareff is already inside."

Fugo stepped through.

Immediately, his eyes fell upon a young woman standing at the very end of a mahogany dining table. Her hair was black, though her three long braids were blonde. Her left eye was surrounded by an eight-pointed scar. She wore a midriff-exposing colorful outfit, more fit for a belly dancer than the lethal Mafia bodyguard that she was.

She barely acknowledged Fugo as he entered, standing with her hands crossed behind her back in a disciplined manner. Like a soldier at boot camp.

"Hi, Shiela E. Long time no see."

Shiela E. looked at Fugo. He expected her expression to remain deadpan, until he saw her lips turned into a half-smile. "Likewise Fugo."

Fugo scratched the back of his head and looked around. There was no one else in the room besides her.

"So...I heard Mr. Polnareff wanted to see me…"

A disembodied voice with a French accent rang out through the room. "Who is that, Sheila E.?"

"It's Pannacotta Fugo sir," Sheila E. answered curtly. "He's here."

"Oh! Gimme a moment…"

Fugo caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked down and saw a tiny form crawl out from beneath one of the chairs on stubby, scaly legs.

It was a turtle, its beak clamped around a piece of lettuce plucked from a feeding bowl placed beside it beneath the table. On top of its shell was a red gemstone inlaid into a key embedded into the shell's surface.

The turtle itself was considered to have more influence in the gang than Fugo himself, or any other capo for that matter. After all, it was Coco Jumbo, the vessel to Polnareff's spirit. And like everyone else in the room, the turtle was a Stand-user.

"You'll have to excuse Coco Jumbo. He didn't have his lunch yet..."

A wispy shape began to come out of the gem. It rose higher and higher until it was eye-level with Fugo, then coagulated into the recognizable shape of a tiny, well-built man with an eyepatch and a very tall, silver flat-top.

Fugo immediately bowed out of respect in the presence of Jean Pierre Polnareff.

"You don't have to do that every time you see me, you know," Polnareff chuckled.

"I have to," Fugo replied. "It's gang etiquette."

"Etiquette-schmetiquette. I ain't exactly a gangster like you guys, remember? No need to be so formal."

That was true. It was hard to remember that Polnareff was actually an outsider to the underworld given his rank. Back when he was alive, he was actually on the side of the law, tracking down the man behind the drug trade enveloping Europe at the time, which happened to be the original founder and late ex-boss of Passione. It was only through fate and circumstance that Polnareff ended up siding with Giorno in the final battle against Passione's prior leader. Had things gone differently, he could've been the man to take the organization down instead of helping its reform and becoming one of its greatest resources in the process.

It was rare for an outsider like Polnareff to become concierge, but Fugo could see why Giorno chose him. He had been a Stand-user back when he was a living human, and had years of experience dealing with supernatural opponents, making him at home in the gang's ranks. Then there was his connections with the powerful Speedwagon Foundation, a global research organization with a secret branch that dealt exclusively in the unnatural and bizarre. It never hurt to have too many allies outside of the underworld after all.

"You had a mission for me, Mr. Polnareff?"

Polnareff's usually jovial expression became replaced with a serious one. He floated over to a nearby window, the lower half of his body forming a gaseous tail connected to the gem like a lifeline, giving him the appearance of a genie coming out of his lamp. He looked out into the city of Venice, his mind obviously elsewhere.

"Just a day ago, a **「** man **」** came to us holding a girl in his arms. When we asked him where he found her, he claimed she was floating around the edge of the Ponte della Liberta."

"A girl? Floating in the Ponte della Liberta?" Fugo raised an eyebrow. "Is she still alive?"

"She's recuperating in a hospital not too far from here, inside a secret, secure room reserved only for Passione."

The spirit turned to Fugo. "But the girl wasn't the only he brought with him."

The Frenchman nodded to Shiela E., who reached into her pockets and held up a sparkling object. She flicked it at Fugo before he could get a better look at it, catching it with his fingertips.

"A ladybug brooch?" Fugo said, turning the object in his hand. For outsiders, it was a simple decorative button designed in the shape of the iconic red and black insect. For Passione members, it held far more significance.

"I don't need to tell you what that is, right Fugo?" Polnareff said.

"It's Giorno's **「** personal badge **」** , given to those whom he owes a favor too," Fugo flipped the button like a coin and caught it, throwing it back to Shiela E., who caught it with remarkable precision and promptly pocketed it.

"Correct," Polnareff replied. "The man preferred to keep his identity a secret, but regardless of who he is, we've verified that ladybug brooch to be the genuine article. And since Giorno is not here, it is up to us to honor that favor."

Fugo sighed. "The favor...it's to protect that **「** girl **」** , isn't it?"

Polnareff nodded.

"And you chose me to be the one to play babysitter, right?"

"That's right."

The idea of having to protect someone, a girl especially, caused some unwanted memories to surface in Fugo's mind that he preferred to have been left buried. Memories of the last assignment he had right before his period of absence from the gang.

Memories of the exact moment when he turned his back on the closest things he could call friends, as he stood on the steps of the San Giorgio Maggiore.

"From your trembling fist, you're probably thinking back to the time you and the rest of Bruno's group was assigned to protect Trish, aren't you?"

Fugo remained silent.

"Don't linger on the past," Polnareff said. "You've already made amends by taking out Massimo Volpe and his colleagues."

The Frenchman smiled coyly. "However, if you insist on dwelling on some unwanted memory like a brooding teenager, think of this as your second chance at redemption...though I don't think you really need one."

Fugo sighed. "So...who am I protecting?"

Polnareff rubbed his neck. "Well...how do I explain this? She isn't exactly a **「** normal **」** girl."

"Oh?" Fugo raised a brow. "How so? Is she a Stand user?"

"Let's just say that you won't believe me if I tell you. It's better if you go see her for yourself."

Polnareff being cryptic. Great. That was a good sign of things to come.

"Although, I can tell you this one thing," Polnareff raised a finger. "There is another reason why it is in the best interest of the gang to protect her, beyond a simple favor."

He paused, then tapped his chest. "There's an **「** Arrow **」** stuck inside her heart."

Fugo blinked. He wasn't sure he heard that right. "She has a _what_ stuck inside her?"

Polnareff crossed his arms. "You heard me. There's an **「** Arrow **」** stuck inside her heart."

Fugo has seen and heard of many bizarre shit during his tenure as a member of Passione. Considering his boss was a man's spirit trapped in the shell of a reptile and that every one of his close colleagues had the ability to call forth super strong punch ghosts with weird abilities that sometimes don't make any sense, he thought he couldn't be surprised anymore. Boy was he wrong.

A Stand Arrow wasn't just something a person can get stuck in them like a medical anomaly. It was an artifact that had the power to grant any organism they deemed worthy a Stand, and it was because of the very one currently in Giorno's possession that Passione was even able to exist. Roughly all of the Stand-users currently belonging to the organization owe the existence of their Stands to the Arrow.

At the same time, some of its worst enemies got their power from the same artifact. As vital to the organization's founding as they were, they always had a knack for creating more enemies than allies. And if what Polnareff said was true, there was nothing stopping every gang from Italy trying to target her once they found out about the powerful artifact within her body.

"Is...is it still inside her?" Fugo hesitantly asked.

The Frenchman sighed and shook his head. "We tried to remove it but we couldn't. At least without tearing the girl's entire heart out, which I'm not about to condone as long as Passione is under my leadership."

"How the hell did she even get an Stand Arrow inside her? And where did it come from?"

"We don't have answers to those questions I'm afraid," Polnareff murmured "How she got that **「** Arrow **」** and why it's inside her chest is still a mystery at this point."

Polnareff clicked his fingers together. "In fact, the girl is nothing but a pile of enigmas. We know nothing about her beyond the Arrow stuck inside her heart. Which is only _one_ of the many strange things about her, a fact you'll soon find out once you see her."

Fugo's lips tightened. He scrunched his nose. "The reason why that mystery man wants this girl protected...is because he knows she's already been targeted, correct?"

"Oh, its worse than that," Polnareff replied. The Frenchman narrowed his eyes. "There were signs of an **「** attack **」** all over the girl's body."

Fugo cursed under his breath. "Shit. So there's already enemies after her?"

"Yes. And we know less about them than the girl," Polnareff said. "Which is why I'm entrusting you, one of our most distinguished capos, with the job."

Fugo took a moment to run the information back through his head. He scratched his head and looked out to view of Venice as he mulled over everything Polnareff had told him. The job seemed simple enough, but there were details like the mysterious circumstances surrounding the girl, the Arrow and her currently unknown attackers that he knew was definitely going to complicate things.

Still, it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Purple Haze was feared among Passione for a reason. There were very few defenses against its utterly devastating ability, with its capacity to end life was so great that it was treated like a bomb or plague, a destructive force that annihilates everything regardless if it was an ally or enemy.

Which made Fugo curious about something.

"Can I ask you one more question Mr. Polnareff?"

"Shoot."

"Why me?" Fugo placed his palm against his heart. "My **「** Stand-ability **」** can't distinguish between friend or foe. It can hurt even me, its user. My gifts are only suited for assassination, and there's a good chance I'll hurt the girl, so what makes you think its good for protecting anything?"

Polnareff chuckled. The capo noticed a twinkle in his eye.

"You don't have to worry about Purple Haze hurting her. She may be the only person on this planet besides Giorno himself that Purple Haze's virus can't harm."

* * *

 **A MECHANICAL MAIDEN FROM A FOREIGN LAND...  
A FEARED GANGSTER WITH AN EVEN MORE FEARED SUPERNATURAL POWER...**

 **A MYSTERIOUS NEW ENEMY LURKING IN THE SHADOWS...**

 **AND SO, THE CURTAINS RISE ON A NEW BIZARRE ADVENTURE!**

 **TO BE CONTINUED -**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

So...long time to no see.

Many of you have probably noticed I haven't uploaded anything in over a year. Many of you can guess it was real life that got in the way, and you'd be correct.

I'm not good with speeches or explanations, so I'll try my best to keep it simple. I basically tried my hand at other writing projects, essentially original fiction that I could call my own, and as a result, I put my fanfiction work on the backburner. That, along with an increasingly hectic work schedule gave me little time to write, or at least write work that I was proud of. The end result is that I have neglected to update anything, which really really _really_ bummed me out now looking back. I let all of you guys down and I feel like shit for it.

As for those other writing projects? None of them really stuck and all I ended up doing was wasting a ton of effort I could've put into the fics I've already uploaded to this site and essentially have nothing to show for it.

I almost gave up writing entirely at one point, knowing how busy I was going to be if I end up with my current career path. However, I couldn't stop thinking about this story. For some reason, I couldn't stop thinking of the bizarre adventure I laid out for everyone's favorite robot schoolgirl with a Brooklyn accent teaming up with Passione's infamous swiss cheese boy and all of the crazy shit I had planned for this fic but couldn't get around to.

Then I discovered Shocker's Persona 5/Jojo crossover Vanishing Act, a fanfic that has been completed from start to thrilling finish, and I realized I had no excuse to not continue this. I was just making excuses for myself, when I could've been plowing though and making my way to finishing a complete story. Seeing a Persona/Jojo crossover finish its intended run, and a very good run at that, really inspired me to get off my ass and start ORAORAORA'ing the keyboard once again, back when I first started out on this site.

Above all else though, I miss reading your guys' comments. I miss the feedback, which had always been greatly constructive and challenged me as a writer, as well as the fan discussions we had about Jojo in general.

With that in mind, I've decided to return to this site, and to my best to see this fic through...with one exception.

Those other writing projects may not have fell through, but they allowed me to grow as a writer, to figure out what works and what doesn't in a story. Revisiting Spirited Gangstar, I realized there were a lot of things I can do better, namely in the way the main group of enemies worked and elements of the plot, along with certain scenes that good have gone smoother, including the opening. My writing style has also changed drastically since I last updated, so revisiting older stories is going to be tough.

So I've decided to reboot this fanfic and write it the way I see it now in my head, planned from start to finish. I know this is the 3rd time I've killed and restarted a fic and I don't blame a lot of you for not believing I can stick through with this. But I'm more doing this for myself, to show that I can finish something and not give up part way. I might not upload as fast or keep to a consistent schedule, but I will update, even if it means me drinking Abbachio's piss to get me there.

And with that tandem out of the way, I hope you enjoy the new and improved Spirited Gangstar!


	2. A Robot in Italy Part 2

**Chapter Two - A Robot in Italy Part 2**

On the way to the hospital, Fugo could not stop thinking about what Polnareff had told him. He was especially curious about what the Frenchman had meant when he claimed the girl to the only person in the world besides Giorno that couldn't be affected by Purple Haze's killer virus. Said virus was capable of destroying any organic matter that came into contact with it in mere seconds, and had no known natural defenses against it beyond a simple limitation from sunlight and itself. Most other Stands were powerless against it, except for a few exceptional cases such as Giorno's Gold Experience Requiem.

However, when he entered the hospital room where the girl lay and saw her in person, he finally understood what Polnareff meant.

He first noticed that the girl's arms, visibly poking out of the short sleeves of her hospital gown, were made entirely of metal. Her forearm resembled a red gauntlet, her fingers segmented like those of a prosthetic. Then he noticed the girl's headpiece wasn't really a headpiece but a part of her head, resembling a pair of round headphones connected by a silver grate with vertical slits like those found on the visor of a medieval knight's helmet. A pair of blue wires linked the headphone-like structures to the flat metal panels flanking her rather lengthy bluish gray ponytail. From the neck down, he saw that her skin was completely synthetic. Just from a cursory glance, Fugo could tell there was a good chance the rest of her was made of metal. Her pale face and hair were really the only completely human-like part of her, and even then, her features so perfect and lacking any flaws that they seemed more designed than naturally formed.

Fugo had mistakenly thought that Polnareff was referencing an ability that the girl might've had which could defend against Purple Haze. He didn't realize he was talking about the girl's _very_ body, considering a flesh eating viruses is useless against things without any flesh to eat.

"What the fuck...Polnareff didn't mention that she was a goddamn _cyborg_."

"Wrong. She's an gynoid," The man besides Fugo corrected. With his Borsalino hat, hairstyle and the markings beneath his left eye, he had an uncanny resemblance to Alexander DeLarge, the protagonist of _A Clockwork Orange_.

His name was Cannolo Murolo, Passione's top information specialist, spy and sole member of the gang's Data Analysis Division. A man with eyes and ears scattered throughout the entire Italian peninsula, and some beyond.

"A cyborg is a human being with metal body parts but a part of them is still organic to some capacity. An android is essentially a robot that looks human but whose body is entirely made of metal with no organic components, with a gynoid being the female equivalent."

Murolo thumbed to the girl. "And Sleeping Beauty here is 100% composed of metal. It ain't a normal type of metal either, but of a special alloy that is unlike anything that is out in the market."

Murolo tilted his hat. "The stuff is tougher than stainless steel and lighter than feathers, which basically means her skin is goddamn bulletproof, bringing into question why she needs a bodyguard in the first place."

Fugo wondered that too. Polnareff claimed she was in pretty bad shape when they found her, and some of the Passione operatives there with her when the mystery man with Giorno's brooch claimed that she was covered scratches and wounds across her body, as if she's been mauled by an animal. But what animal could possibly be strong enough to do that to a mechanical human being who can shrug off bullets?

And more importantly, if she was made of metal and had those injuries...then how did she heal? Her body was completely bereft of any sort of damage, thought it wasn't like she could self-heal like a biological organism could.

As he pondered the question, Fugo's eyes fell on the water-filled glass aquarium placed on the table next to her bed.

"Murolo...why is there an aquarium here?"

Murolo looked up and followed the line of Fugo's gaze. "Oh that? That's the home of our newest recruit."

"Recruit?" Fugo wondered what the hell Murolo was talking about. All Fugo could see of note inside the aquarium was a rock, an unusually colorful one that was purple with orange bands. It was also divided into sections like the shell of a lobster or a trilobite. However, Fugo soon realized it wasn't a rock as tiny bubbles leaked out of its side and it started crawling across the sediment like a drowsy snail.

"What...what the hell is that?"

"Hey hey hey! Show some respect asshole. _She_ is a chiton if you must know, and also the newest member of Passione! She's a Stand-user, just like you and me."

A cloud of bubbles erupted from the chiton's back side, blowing against a few branches of seaweed. Fugo stared at the thing dumbfounded. There was no way Murolo was serious.

"Her name is E'nuff Z'nuff and her Stand is called Metalheart. It has the ability to cause any synthetic or mineral substance to regenerate on their own within a five feet radius."

Fugo inched closer to the animal. He noticed there were small markings on the sides of the shell taking the shape of melancholy robot faces. Ones with the yellow eyes divided by vertical lines that looked similar to the ones belonging to many Stands, including those of Purple Haze.

One of the faces yawned, blowing a stream of bubbles.

Fugo glanced at Murolo. "Where the hell did you find this thing?"

"We found _her_ in a seafood restaurant," Murolo replied. "By one of our members to be exact while he was out to lunch that day and rescued her just seconds before becoming someone's entree."

Fugo raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Just like that?"

"Stand-users attract other Stand-users, remember?"

"Huh...alright," Fugo mumbled. He had to admit, Murolo had a point. Through some unspoken rule of the universe, Stand-users had a tendency to run into other Stand-users without knowing it. It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think that a Passione Stand-user happened to walk into the very restaurant containing a Stand-using chiton, unconsciously drawn to each other through a red string of fate with neither of them aware. Sure, the idea sounded insane, but it was as normal as all other bizarre shit in his life.

"You should give E'nuff Z'nuff more respect Fugo," Murolo mumbled. "She isn't just some mollusc, and has proven to be a great asset to the gang. After all, she's the one that healed robot girl's injuries."

The gangster grinned. "And not only that, but she's also been helping make big bucks for us. With her Stand, we've been repairing broken cars and electronics and re-selling them at a significant profit. Since they're basically as good as new after going through Metalheart, we can get away with charging ludicrous prices for them!"

Murolo slapped Fugo on the back. "Frankly Fugo, she's making more money for the gang than you ever could. How's it like being outdone by a creature without a backbone and lacking a brain?"

Fugo smirked. "You're one to talk Murolo. As an informant, you don't control any of the gang's revenue making avenues."

"Information is worth more than gold," Murolo replied. "And the right information can be a matter of life or death. I may not be running direct lines of revenue like your gambling operations, but this gang wouldn't survive without me."

"Right," Fugo rolled his eyes. "Speaking of which, did you find out anything about this girl, as I requested Murolo?"

Murolo grumbled. "What? No thank you?"

Fugo shot him a look.

Murolo grumbled again, then pulled out a brown envelope thick with documents and handed it to Fugo. "Here."

Fugo took it and opened it up. He pulled out the documents, noting that the front page was headlined with a series of characters that he recognized as Japanese, which he couldn't read though he knew the general look of, along with what he presumed to be the same words translated beneath in Italian and English.

 **-THE KIRIJO GROUP: CONSOLIDATED FINANCES-**

"The Kirijo Group?" Fugo can't say he was familiar with the name.

"They're a global multinational conglomerate headquartered in Japan," Murolo said. "They dabble in many businesses, but there's one thing that caught my eye."

Fugo glanced up from the document. "And that is?"

"They poured quite a fair amount of their resources into advanced robotics research along with something categorized as ' _Ergo Research_ '...the type of spooky secret experiment stuff that I'd expect CERN, NASA, or the military to be dabbling with, not some suits from Japan."

Fugo stared at the document, then at the girl, then back to Murolo. "So...you think these Kirijo Group guys were the ones behind her?"

Murolo shrugged. "Can't say for certain, but it's a possibility."

Fugo read through the first couple of pages. Whoever these Kirijo Group guys were, the figures at their disposal could make an army of robots if they wanted to.

"What about the mystery man that had Giorno's ladybug brooch? There a chance he's part of this Kirijo Group?"

"Who knows. Again, this is all I could scrounge up. Whoever created this chick was very, very good at hiding their tracks. This is the only lead I have so far and until I research more into it, there's currently no definitive answers."

Fugo continued to flip through the documents, scanning bits of information here and there. He read about a research facility in a place called Yakushima used for **「** redacted purposes **」** , of an academy called Gekkoukan High School and employee travel reimbursements for trips to a town in rural Japan known as Inaba, only a handful of miles away from Morioh, a place that, according to Murolo, was home to many Stand-users. He came to a stop when he landed on a page with a photograph clipped onto its corner. An X-ray photograph of a dark triangular mass forming tiny veins and growths across a white mass that was showing through it...and shaped like a butterfly.

"Murolo..." Fugo showed the picture, pointing at the triangular mass. "Is that what I think it is?"

Murolo tilted his hat up, narrowing his eyes on where Fugo was pointing. "If you're thinking that's the Stand-Arrow they found in her, then yes."

Fugo pointed to the butterfly shape beneath it. "And what about this thing? The thing that's connected to it?"

Murolo squinted at the picture. "That? That's the weird crystal we found inside her _along_ with the arrow. I don't have the faintest idea on what the hell it is, but it was giving off heat almost like a battery."

Murolo took off his hat and rubbed his forehead. "I'm not an expert in robotics by any means, but if I were to fathom a guess, I'd say that crystal is her primary power source...and the closest equivalent she has to a _heart_. It seems to be functioning perfectly fine, despite the arrow having fused to it."

Fugo's eyes lingered on the photo for a while. As strange as it sounded, he was more wary around the girl's so-called heart than the Arrow. At least he knew what the Arrow did. The feathery crystals was something completely new, an unknown factor that could have big implementations on the mission. He hated not knowing things, especially on things he's never encountered before, and the fear of the unknown was rightly justified as a man whose been dealing with enemy Stand-users ever since he first joined the gang.

"I'm impressed Murolo," Fugo said, putting the files back into the envelope and handing it to Murolo. "You managed to find all of this in just the few minutes between when I called you after talking to Polnareff and when I got here."

"Who the hell do you think I am? I don't run the Data Analysis Team for no reason," Murolo huffed, putting back on his hat and taking the envelope. "Seriously, you guys don't value me enough."

"If it makes you feel better Murolo, I appreciate you," Fugo teasingly replied.

"It really doesn't," Murolo quipped back, leaning against a wall. "You're a big shot capo now, and I'm still stuck in the same job I've had since I first entered the gang! It's beginning to feel like I'm trapped in a goddamn office job! Can't you at least use your newfound capo powers to convince Polnareff to give me a nicer office at least? Like one with a great view of the Amalfi Coast would be ni-"

Murolo stopped mid-rant. He suddenly straightened himself, his eyes and mouth both going agape.

"Murolo? You alright? Did you just realize you forgot to turn the stove off or what?"

It was then Fugo realized Murolo wasn't staring at him. He was staring at something _behind_ him.

The capo turned around, and saw the girl sitting up in the bed, staring at him with piercing red eyes.

* * *

 **RUNNING SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC…**

 **RUNNING…**

 **RUNNING…**

 **RUNNING…**

 **SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC COMPLETE…**

 **CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE HAD OCCURRED…**

 **NO SIGNS OF PHYSICAL DAMAGE DETECTED…**

 **SCANNING FOR SYSTEM IRREGULARITIES...**

 **THE FOLLOWING SYSTEM ERRORS HAD BEEN DETECTED...**

 **85% OF MEMORY FIELD CORRUPTED…**

 **20% OF ANCILLARY FUNCTIONALITIES DISABLED...**

 **NO OTHER DAMAGE DETECTED…**

 **NO OTHER SYSTEM ERRORS IDENTIFIED…**

 **BEGINNING FULL SYSTEM REBOOT...**

 **REBOOTING…**

 **REBOOTING…**

 **REBOOTING…**

 **ANTI-SHADOW SUPPRESSION WEAPON TYPE-5...BACK ONLINE…**

* * *

Labrys awoke to the sound of unfamiliar voices and the scent of chlorine. Her artificial eyelids fluttered as her vision adjusted to the light, which would have taken far longer had she been human.

She sat up on what felt like a comfortable bed, her metal body covered by clean sheets. She looked down at her clothes, which consisted of white, modest short-sleeved scrubs.

She scanned her unfamiliar surroundings, noting she was in a hospital of sorts, one that gave her a really vague sense of nostalgia. She couldn't exactly explain why. Her attention then promptly fell on the two strangely dressed men talking in front of her, speaking in an alien tongue.

One was a thin man with a flat-brimmed hat and markings around his left eye, his jacket decorated with vibrant aiguillettes. His companion was younger, and far more outrageously dressed, with a flamboyant green suit covered in holes plugged by a black shirt worn underneath, giving his attire the appearance of having pits. His hair was blonde and formed a series of three jagged bangs that hung in front of his face, each as sharp as a blade of grass.

The men hadn't noticed her yet. They continued to talk to each other in their unfamiliar language, prompting a message to appear before the gynoid's eyes.

 **LANGUAGE DETECTED: ITALIAN**

 **UPDATING LANGUAGE MODULE...**

 **UPDATE COMPLETE.**

"Murolo? You alright man? Did you just realize you forgot to turn the stove off or what?"

Labrys could nos understand what the man with the weird suit was saying. The other man had stopped talking altogether and was now staring straight at her. He looked as if he was staring at a ghost.

The man with the weird suit turned around. His expression twisted into one of shock, just like the one worn by his companion.

"Holy crap!" The man with the green suit exclaimed. "You're awake!"

He stared at Labrys in silence and she stared back, causing an awkward moment of silence to linger around them before the former finally cleared his throat. He fixed his tie, which the gynoid noticed was covered in strawberries.

"Um...hello," He whispered. "How...how are you feeling?"

Labrys didn't respond.

"Erm...my name is Fugo…" The man waved to his companion. "This is Murolo. What do we call you?"

"Fugo, it's clear she isn't from around here," The man introduced as Murolo murmured. "She probably doesn't understand-"

"Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Labrys," Labrys interjected. She saw their jaws going slack.

"What? Ya asked for my name and I gave it to ya," Labrys said. "I mean, at least I think its my name...considerin' its what's on my model information screen."

The two men remained silent. They looked stunned, though she didn't know why. She was simply answering a question.

"Hey, you fellas alright?"

The one called Fugo cleared his throat. "Y...You speak Sicilian?"

"Sicilian?" Labrys wasn't familiar with the term, and it wasn't in her database.

"Yeah, and its pretty damn fluent Sicilian too! " Murolo added. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a Sicily native!"

"Huh?" Labrys couldn't follow what the man was saying. She might have understood his words, but he was talking a bit too quickly. "What are ya guys talkin' about? What the heck is a **「** Sicilian **」**?"

"What?" Murolo flattened the top of his hat flat with his palm. "What do you mean 'what the heck is Sicilian'? You're speaking it right now!"

"Eh? Are you sure?" Labrys pulled up her settings. "It clearly says my language module is set to Italian, not Sicilian."

Murolo fell silent. He made an expression that was halfway between irritated and utterly confused. The gynoid wondered if she said something offensive.

"Sicilian is a dialect of Italian," Fugo explained. "Granted, it has enough nuances to be considered its own language by some."

Labrys noticed Fugo suck in a breath. They were obviously nervous around her, as if she'd never seen an Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon before. She supposed the appearance of her metal body might draw such unusual reactions from normal humans, but the way the two guys dressed was the very opposite of normal. In particular, she found Fugo to be just as weird looking as she was with his odd swiss-cheese textured suit, if not weirder.

"Um...what did you say your name was again?" Fugo asked.

"Fifth Generation Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon Labrys," Labrys answered.

"Yeesh, that's a mouthful," Murolo murmured. "Do you have a nickname at least? One that won't garble my tongue?"

Labrys tapped her chin, thinking for a moment. "Well...I suppose you can call me Labrys."

"Labrys…" Fugo echoed. "Alright, that works."

The sound of bubbles blowing drew Labrys's attention fell to the water-filled tank besides her. Her sensors picked up on the bio-electric signals emanating from some type of life form. She couldn't see anything of note besides a really colorful rock with face-like patterns on its side. Only when the rock moved and blew more bubbles out of its side that she realized it _was_ the life form.

"The heck is this funny lookin' thing?"

"That? Her name is E'nuff Z'nuff and she's a-"

"Oh! It's a chiton!" Labrys said, cutting Fugo off.

Fugo blinked. "How...how did you know that? You were just asking what it was a second ago."

"The creature's parameters match what my database has on the organisms typically known as _chiton_ , a mollusc of the Polyplacophora class," Labrys explained. "You're right in that I haven't seen or heard of em' before, but if my database has info on it, I don't really need to."

"Database?" Murolo said with curious interest in his tone. "Do you have an entire search engine inside your brain?"

"That's right," Labrys answered. "Basically, if I scan somethin' I'm interested in, the computer that serves as my brain can usually spit out an answer. Usually."

Murolo's brow furrowed. A smile broke out across his lips. "Damn...I'm jealous. If I had a computer for a brain, my job would be helluva lot easier."

"Oh?" Labrys said. "What job would that be Murolo-san?"

Her words caused the two men to pause and give her a strange look.

"What? Is it somethin' I said?"

"Was that a Japanese honorific you used?" Murolo chuckled. "I find it amusing, hearing it with your Sicilian."

 _Japanese?_ Labrys pulled up her settings again. Her language module was in Italian, not Japanese, though she did notice that her model information lists Japanese as her default language module, the one she would've spoken in situations where she would be reset to her original factory settings. Maybe that was why she had said Murolo-san instead of Mr. Murolo or just Murolo. A software error perhaps?

"Anyways...to answer your question, I'm an information gatherer," Murolo continued. "I specialize in finding data and things that very important people want to know."

"What kinda people?" Labrys asked.

Murolo stopped smiling. Fugo traded an awkward glance with him. He scratched the back of his head. "Um...important people. That's all you need to know."

Labrys frowned. _Geez, forget I asked._

The gynoid looked once more to the hospital room. She sensed that the walls were thicker than normal and had something built in them that hampered with her radio communications device. She noted that it only had one window, open to let in the sunlight. The velvet curtains danced as a faint breeze blew through, bringing with it the distinct briny aroma of seawater that her olfactory sensors picked up on.

"Can you fellas tell me where I am at least?"

"You're in a special room within Derdian General Hospital," Fugo replied. "Just a few miles from the Ponte della Liberta where you were found."

"Ponte della Liberta?" Labrys hadn't heard the name before and her database wasn't spitting out an info-dump as it normally would.

"You...you don't remember?" Fugo said.

Labrys shook her head. "No...I don't."

Come to think of it, she couldn't remember much of anything beyond her name and model information. And when she tried to think back to any point at all before the present, all she got were hazy grey thoughts accompanied by an error message that popped up in her eyes.

 **ERROR: 85% OF MEMORY FIELD CORRUPTED.**

"Huh...well ya look at that. My memory field is corrupted."

"What the heck does that mean?" Fugo asked.

"It's exactly what it sounds like," Labrys replied.

"Okay…" Fugo said softly. "Pretend that I'm not an expert on robotics or computers."

"Erm...alright," Labrys tapped the metal grate on her head. "I basically can't recall whatever memory files are stored inside my head. At least 85% of it. It's why I can't remember ever gettin' in this room, or where I've been up to this point."

"I see," Fugo said quietly. He crossed his arms. "Sounds to me like you've gotten a textbook case of amnesia."

"Amnesia?" Labrys murmured.

"It's a condition where-"

"Where I lose my memories?" Labrys interrupted Fugo. Her database already ran a search on what amnesia was, telling her that it was a human condition where disease or some traumatic event prevented someone from remembering something they should have.

"Er...yes. That is correct," Fugo said sheepishly.

"But isn't amnesia a human condition? How the heck can I get it then?"

"You're right," Fugo answered. "But it sounds to me like you've got the robot equivalent."

Labrys supposed he was right. Her memory files being corrupted would be the closest thing to a human being's experience of amnesia. Although comparing it exactly to amnesia wasn't entirely accurate. There was little to no way to regain memories lost by a human brain, but a computer brain and the digital files on it on the other hand can be fixed, as long as they weren't purged or wiped clean. It was possible to debug to the 85% of memories that she was locked from as the files themselves were still present in her processor. She just simply didn't know how to at the moment and there was no telling how long it was going to take.

"An amnesiac robot," Murolo chortled. "Now I've heard of everything. And I thought working under a turtle was weird."

The man rubbed his neck and sighed. "I suppose you can't tell us how you got a Stand Arrow stuck inside your chest, righ-"

Fugo elbowed Murolo in the chest, quieting him before he could reach the end of his sentence.

"An arrow?" Labrys's eyes lit up. "Stuck inside my chest?"

Labrys did a quick scan of her body. She saw the diagnostic screen for her Papillon Heart unit, housing two Plume of Dusk fragments, pieces of a special crystalline substance that had a feathery appearance. They existed in a state between thought and matter and had traits of a living organism while not being one.

The Plumes of Dusk served a purpose beyond being a power source. They were the sole reason she had emotions, had a personality she could call her own. In short, it was the very vessel of her soul.

 **SCAN COMPLETE: ANOMALY DETECTED IN PAPILLON HEART UNIT.**

Well, that was disconcerting, more so than the corruption of her memory files. She wasn't expecting anything else in her heart besides the Plumes of Dusk, but when she pulled up an internal camera feed of her Papillon Heart unit, she noticed that her Plume fragments had company. Company that took the form of a tiny arrowhead-like object embedded on top of them, fused to them through veins sprouting around its edges.

The moment Labrys saw the object, her eyes went wide.

A memory flashed into her mind that very instant.

* * *

" _Holy...this arrow ain't just a museum piece! Its givin' off a lot of bizarre energy readings sis! You've seen anythin' like this before?"_

 _Labrys turned to the short-haired blonde with her, holding up the ancient arrowhead sitting in her palm to the lights placed around the ancient catacomb. The other girl had a mechanical body like hers, with a red tie pinching the collar of her body chassis._

" _No...I haven't," The blonde said, shaking her head. "There's nothing like this in the Shadow Operative archives either. But one thing is certain…"_

 _She kicked the body at her feet. It wore a grey jumpsuit and hard hat to blend in with the archaeologists stationed around the nearby dig-site, though its face gave away its inhuman nature. A face that was fused to a bony mask, its sockets filled in with eyes divided in vertical lines. The mouth of the mask was permanently stuck in a scream upon death, exposing rows of sharp teeth. Its flesh had decayed to coal shortly after it had been killed by the two of them._

" _These stripe-eyed monsters..." The blonde continued. "That arrow must have a hand in their creation._ "

" _Damn…_ " _Labrys whispered. "No wonder they want these things so badly! If it can turn even the weakest Shadow into another one of these weird-eyed freaks,_ _we've got serious trouble on our hands!_ "

 _The blonde nodded in agreement. "Whatever happens, we can't let any Shadow near that arrow…"_

 _The entire chamber suddenly shook around them, kicking chunks of debris and dust loose from the ceiling._

" _Look out!" The blonde yelled. Both jumped back right as a large piece of roof crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust._

 _A furious roar shrieked from an inhuman throat just beyond the catacomb's glyph-covered walls, followed by the steady cacophony of gunfire, along with shouts and orders barked from human voices._

 _Then came the screams, and then silence. A silence punctuated by muffled rattling of chains._

" _Oh crap!" Labrys turned to the passageway they had entered from. "We have to get out of here sis!"_

 _The gynoid was about to activate the boosters on the axe holstered to her back, only to stop in her tracks as she noticed a bright light in the middle of her chest, along with a tingling sensation deep inside her heart._

" _Labrys, you alright?"_

" _There's somethin' goin' on with my heart! My Plumes of Dusk are-"_

 _Before she could even comprehend why the Plume fragments that served as her heart were glowing, the arrow wrenched itself from her grasp, as if seized by an invisible hand. She froze as it flew into her chest, striking her right at the center of her Papillon Heart._

 _The color drained from her red eyes. She entered into a hazy trance as the energy of the arrow poured into her heart, causing all of her major systems to go into disarray. Warnings blared all across her vision as she felt the arrow steadily fuse itself to her Plumes._

" _Labrys!"_

 _The gynoid turned around to see the blonde running towards her. She would have almost made it if it weren't for the chamber caving in between them at that very instant._

* * *

Labrys doubled over, clutching her head in pain.

"Hey! Are you alright?" Fugo said with a worrisome tone. He quickly rushed to Labrys's side.

"I'm...I'm fine," Labrys said. The pain in her head subsided. She guessed she had just experienced what humans commonly refer to as a migraine, though she didn't realize robots can get them too. One of the faults for being designed to be very human-like she supposed.

"You sure?"

"Yes...yes I am," Labrys looked up at Fugo. "I just saw the arrow you fellas were talkin' about inside my Papillon Heart unit. The moment I saw it, it triggered a series of images to play in my head."

"Wait, did you just say you saw inside your own heart?" Murolo said with an exasperated tone. "How the hell-"

Fugo waved a hand to silence him. "You saw a series of images inside your head? Like a memory?"

Labrys nodded.

"What did you see?"

Labrys swallowed, not saliva but cooling liquid. "I was in a cavernous chamber of sorts...there were lights put up everywhere and there were these funny lookin' writin' on the walls that I didn't have a language module for."

Labrys looked down. Her hand gripped her sheets. "I was there along with another girl. Another girl like me. Don't know who she is or what I was doing there...but I remember holdin' the arrow ya guys were talkin' about."

"A chamber with writing on the walls?" Fugo said. "Sounds like an ancient tomb of sorts. Can you recall anything else?"

Labrys tried to think back to more details of the memory. Unfortunately, it had already began to fade away from her mind like a passing dream.

"It's pretty hazy. Can't remember much else I'm afraid."

"I see...interesting," Fugo stroked his chin. "It seems like the moment you saw the Arrow, it caused you to recall a memory that you thought was lost."

"Couldn't access," Labrys corrected. "They aren't lost to me. I just gotta find a way to debug my system so I can access them again."

"Right, whatever. Point is that the moment you saw the Arrow, something that you must've seen before, it triggered a memory to play across your mind."

"What's your point Fugo?" Murolo chimed in.

"My point is that if seeing familiar sights may trigger more of her memories, perhaps we can jostle more memories if we bring her to more familiar sights."

Fugo stood up and turned to Murolo, pointing out to the window. "Maybe its worth taking her back to the Ponte della Liberta, to see if being there will cause her to remember more things."

"Take her back?" Murolo raised a brow. "You sure that's a good idea Fugo? What if her attackers return there? They say killers return to the scene of the crime."

Labrys pursed her lips.

 _Attackers? What is he talkin' about?_

"It's the only way any of us will get to the bottom of this mystery," Fugo continued. "It's the only lead we've got."

Murolo creased the brim of his hat. "I suppose you have a point."

Fugo nodded. "In the meantime Murolo, I'd appreciate your help in trying to see if you can find out anything more about what's going on."

"I'll see what I can do," Murolo said, tucking the brown envelope he had in his position under his armpit. He made his way to the door and walked out. She caught glimpse of several large men in suits. Murolo nodded to each one, all of whom respectively nodded back without saying a word before the door closed behind him, the locks clicking into place shortly after.

That's odd. Labrys wondered why those guys were wearing sunglasses indoors.

* * *

"Alright then...Labrys, how about we-"

Fugo stopped short. He looked to the bed expecting to see Labrys, but saw only sheets with no one beneath them instead. Somehow, she had vanished in the short span of time he was talking to Murolo. Panicked, he frantically glanced around the room for signs of the robot girl. His eyes eventually found her standing by the open window, staring outside.

The capo breathed a sigh of relief.

 _Damn, she's fast...like a ninja! Murolo is right...it'd make more sense if she was_ my _bodyguard."_

Fugo walked over to Labrys and looked out to the same magnificent sight she saw.

It was obvious from Labrys's wide-eyed, stupefied expression that she was mesmerized by the sight of Venice, one of the most famous cities on the planet. The city was vibrant with activity during this time, with colorful boats of all shapes and sizes speeding down the waterways that served in place of more conventional roads. The surface of the water sparkled like jewelry as it reflected the warm sunlight. Tourists and locals alike intermingled together into one lively mass on the walkways and artistically designed bridges placed throughout the city, some entering and leaving the colorful, ornate buildings around the area.

And just out on the horizon was the Ponte della Liberta, the famous bridge that connected Venice's islands to the mainland. The 3,850 meter long structure was first opened by Benito Mussolini as Lictor's Bridge and renamed to what it is now to honour the end of Mussolini's Fascist regime. In modern times, it continues to be the site of many activity, from the cars and busloads of tourists traveling along its lanes, to the bikers and joggers that make use of its sidewalks which offer a great view of the oceans around it.

"Pretty ain't it?" Fugo smiled. "Judging by your expression, I'd imagine this is your time seeing the city. It's how I'd react too if-"

"Oh my God!" Labrys shouted, the outburst causing the capo's heart to nearly break out of his rib cage. The gynoid turned to Fugo, pointing frantically to the outside. "The entire city is sinkin'!"

Before Fugo could say anything, Labrys jumped onto the window sill with the agility of an African leopard. She crouched, poising to leap off before a ghostly arm erupted out of his own. It grabbed a hold of the strange girl by the collar of her hospital gown, pulling her back into the room and preventing her from making the plunge. She fell onto her rear, causing a metal clack. She shook her head in a daze.

"What the hell are you doing?" Fugo yelled.

"What's it look like I'm doin'?" Labrys recovered and stood back up, dusting her gown and puffing her artificial cheeks. "I'm savin' those people out there before the whole place goes under! They'll drown if we don't do somethin' Fugo-san!"

Fugo stared at the girl in disbelief. Despite the ridiculousness of her words, he saw that she was completely serious. He sighed and pinched his brow.

"The city isn't sinking."

Labrys blinked. "Huh? It's not?"

"It's supposed to be submerged in water," Fugo explained, waving towards the outside. "You're in Venice, the City of _Canals_. It's built on a tight cluster of islands, and its roads are made of water, not concrete. Everything is fine, and no one is going to drown!"

Labrys looked at him blankly for a moment. She then studied the city once more. "Really?"

"Yes, yes really," Fugo said.

Labrys scratched her ample hair. "Seems kinda silly to plop an entire city on water just like that. Won't erosion affectin' the bases be a problem? And wouldn't there be a risk of those sidewalks flooding if there's excessive rainfall?"

"Considering the place has been around since the time of the Roman Empire, I don't think those things are a problem," Fugo responded with a slightly sarcastic tone.

He looked towards the window and pointed towards the Ponte della Liberta. "That's where we'll be heading by the way."

Labrys followed the direction of Fugo's finger. "That really, really long bridge?"

"Yup. That's the Ponte della Liberta, where you were found. We'll be going there-"

Fugo turned and saw Labrys had vanished again. She had already made it to the door.

"What are we waitin' for then Fugo-san? Let's go."

Fugo rubbed his forehead. He's never heard of a situation where the person that a bodyguard was supposed to protect was faster and probably stronger than the bodyguard himself.

"Hold on...you can't just go out there. Not dressed like that."

Labrys studied her attire. She shot Fugo a confused look. "Why not?"

"You're wearing a freakin' hospital gown," Fugo remarked. "Plus, your robot bits will stick out like a sore thumb out there. We need to dress you in something more conspicuous. Something that'll help you blend in, but at the same time fashionable."

"Fashionable and conspicuous?" Labrys scrunched her nose. "I ain't a fashionista, but aren't those two things completely contradictory to each other?"

"Not in Italy," Fugo grinned. "Fashion is the norm around these parts..."

Out of an uncontrollable reflex, Fugo struck a glorious pose, bending his hips and arms in clearly uncomfortable ways. His body nearly glittered fabulously from the sunlight that hit him from behind.

"And if you're going to be hanging around me, we need to get you looking up to the fabulous standards around these parts!"

Labrys stared blankly at him, tilting her head at an angle like a confused puppy. "Hey Fugo-san, are you alright? That pose looks uncomfortable. You shouldn't be doin' that. Ya might hurt your bones or somethin'."

The fabulous glitter around Fugo vanished. The room itself seemingly darkened. The smile vanished from Fugo's face as he relaxed from his pose.

He didn't know how long he was expected to protect this girl, this strange, quirky robot from a faraway land, but he had a feeling the days to follow were going to be some of the strangest he had for a long time.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Well, here it is. The second chapter, right after the first one. A lot of set up in this one, from Fugo meeting Labrys and then the flashback which hints at the driving force behind the fic. I also carried over the "memory-loss" premise from the earlier version of this fic, to give it some Jojolion vibes and also put Labrys in an interesting position where she can shine on her own without immediately knowing to phone the rest of the Shadow Operatives for help.

As always, any feedback is appreciated.

Best,

Beef


	3. A Robot in Italy Part 3

**Chapter Three - A Robot in Italy Part 3**

Labrys was starting to feel bored.

She had been staring out the window of her hospital window for what felt like an hour, though the digital display on the corner of her vision was quick to tell her that it had only been twenty minutes.

At least she was bored with a great view. The longer she stared out at the alien landscape of Venice, the more she found herself getting used to the idea of a city built on water instead of concrete or dirt. She began to appreciate the vibrant and traditional look of the buildings, of the diverse variety of watercraft that moved down the breathtaking canals that lent the city its name. She took a particular liking to the long, leaf-shaped ones in particular, powered by human muscle and paddles instead of engines, manned by people in amusingly colorful outfits. Gondolas were what Fugo called them, and when she asked why they were so slow, the man explained they weren't really in a hurry to get anywhere. Something about savoring the journey more than the destination, which was a concept she found interesting.

The beauty of the place only made Labrys want to go out there and explore it herself, but Fugo forbid her from doing so until one of the men he sent out to some place called "Gucci" returned.

"Fugo-san...how much longer do we have to wait?" Labrys rocked in her chair.

Fugo glanced at his watch. "It shouldn't be long now."

He turned to Labrys. "Also, why do you keep calling me Fugo- _san_?"

Labrys shrugged. "Don't know. Force of habit? If you want me to stop, I can."

"Nah it's fine," Fugo leaned back on his chair. He seemed restless too, though to a far lesser extent than Labrys. "Just curious is all. You can call me whatever you want, as long as its nice."

Labrys looked out to the window once more. The relaxing atmosphere of the city allowed her thoughts to wander. She thought back to what Murolo had said earlier, just before he left the room.

"Mind if I ask you somethin'?"

"Sure."

"I heard Murolo-san sayin' somethin' about an attacker," Labrys glanced over her shoulder. "What did he mean by that?"

She picked up on Fugo tensing ever so slightly in his seat. His body language gave off the impression he was very hesitant to answer her question.

"When you were found...you were covered in injuries. It was obvious an assailant had their way with you."

No matter how advanced her computer brain was, it still took Labrys a drawn out moment to process what Fugo was telling her.

"Do...do you guys know anythin' about who my attackers were? Or what they want with me?"

Fugo gave a heavy sigh. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough to go off of to answer your first question, but I may have an answer to the second…"

He tapped his heart. "It's probably because of the Arrow stuck inside you. I know for a fact that there's many people out there who would do anything to get their hands on it. Many _many_ people...and most of them aren't nice."

"That Arrow?" Labrys's fingers went to her chest. "What's so special about it?"

Fugo blew through his lips. "Well...how do I answer that? Simply put, its probably the most powerful artifact to have ever been discovered, all because of its special ability."

"Special ability? To do what?"

Fugo leaned back even further in his seat, his eyes going to the ceiling. Right as he did so, Labrys saw something that nearly caused her to topple out of the chair. A horrible something taking the shape of a humanoid monster.

It was hideous in every sense of the word, its checkered and white body covered in stitches, including over its drooling, snarling lips. It wore a black helmet on its head, a pair of fierce yellow eyes glaring through the helmet's beak shaped visor.

Eyes that were divided in vertical lines.

The sight of the beast, and those eerily familiar eyes, caused her "weapon" side to stir. She slowly drew her arm back, her fingers curling into a fist. She heard a clicking as her chain arm mechanism readied itself like a gun being loaded.

 _What...what the heck is that thing!? It just suddenly appeared inside the room, without even triggerin' my sensors! But whatever it is...Fugo-san is in danger if I don't do somethin'!_

She raised her arm, leveling at the monster...who walked over to a nearby table and poured a glass of water from the pitcher that sat on it.

The creature's action took Labrys off-guard. She relaxed her arm. What? T _he hell is it doin'?_

As the monster made its way to Fugo with cup of water in hand, the man took it casually, as if the latter treating the former as his butler. It vanished soon after having done its task, turning into a blur that entered into Fugo's body.

Fugo took a sip. "It's kind of hard to explain...so let's just say it gives certain people an advantage over most other people."

Labrys pointed a trembling finger at Fugo. "Um...Fugo-san...does that Arrow by chance have somethin' to do with that weird lookin' purple guy with the creepy face that just handed you that cup of water?"

Fugo had taken another sip, and Labrys's words caused him to spit all that water back out. He nearly fell out of his seat. He whipped his head towards Labrys with a face so shocked that she felt herself get shocked just by looking at it.

"You...you can see Purple Haze!?"

"Uh...yeah. Am I not supposed to?"

Fugo stood up from his chair. He ran his hands through his hair. Labrys wished he would stop glaring at him as if she was a monster herself.

"That's impossible...only Stand-users can see Stands! Unless…"

He suddenly ran to Labrys and grabbed her arms, shaking her. It didn't hurt, but Labrys wished he'd stop nonetheless.

"You're a Stand-user!" Fugo excitedly yelled.

Labrys winced. "Fugo-san...can you please let me go…"

Fugo looked at her for a moment, then let go of her arms. He stepped back and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry."

Labrys huffed, dusting the ruffled sleeves of her hospital gown. "Anyways...I've never heard of this Stand-user thing you speak of. Nothin' is poppin' up in my database either. How can I be somethin' I've never even heard of?"

"To be fair, you didn't know what Sicilian was at first, even after you spoke it."

"That's different. If I had a monster like that inside me, I'd know."

"But you must have!" Fugo exclaimed. "That's the only way you could see my Purple Haze!"

"Huh?" Labrys raised an eyebrow. "I ain't followin'."

Without a word, the monster appeared right behind Fugo. The sight of the beast suddenly flickering into existence as soon as she blinked caused the gynoid to retract her legs onto the seat, her weight tipping it against the window. Despite her heart being formed from supernatural crystals, she could've sworn she felt it skip a beat.

"Hey hey hey! Does it have to keep poppin in' and out like that? I can't get heart attacks like ya humans can, but I felt I was damn close just a second ago!"

"Relax, Purple Haze is under my complete control," Fugo thumbed at the creature, standing behind him like a doting servant. "The very fact that you can see him _proves_ you are a Stand-user, as only Stand-users can see Stands."

Labrys stared at the creature. It was still as vicious as it first appeared, but other than that it remained perfectly still, like a marionette whose strings weren't yet pulled. She noticed how its humanoid shape and build lined up exactly with Fugo's own.

As if it was a mirror of himself.

As a learning machine, her sensors had already began the process of scanning it. She didn't learn much from her preliminary scans, beyond that it was entirely made of energy, a type with a wavelength that was unlike anything else. The series of bulbs behind its knuckles were also something to note, containing what looked to be a highly infectious pathogen. Other than that, her database didn't cough out any other information about it.

Those eyes though. They made her shudder, and not just because they looked like the eyes of the monster in her memory that she and the other girl killed. For some reason, she had an underlying sense of dread the more she stared at them, feeling as if she had been conditioned to fear their distinct, banded appearance. She felt like a prey animal recognizing the traits of a predator.

Labrys decided to keep the part about the creature's eyes to herself. The monster was under Fugo's control for the time being, and she didn't feel like her discussion of the creature's eyes was something she had to share right now.

"Fugo-san, I can see it alright," Labrys whispered. "But again...I don't think I have this Stand-thingy like you think I do."

Fugo's excited expression deflated. "Really?"

Purple Haze vanished. Labrys could feel her chest heave in relief the instant she no longer had to look at it.

"Positive," Labrys replied. "If I did have somethin' like that...Purple Haze was it? If I had somethin' like that, don'tcha think I woulda called it out already? Just to show you I have one too?"

"But...but you could see my Stand!" Fugo stammered, beginning to sound a bit like a broken record, as the humans say.

"I have many senses built into me that regular humans don't have," Labrys retorted. "For example, I can even see radio waves if I wanted to. One of those senses probably allows me to see your Stand, though that doesn't mean I have one."

"What about the Arrow? I was about to explain that its special ability is to grant other organisms Stands. It's fused to your heart...so that has to mean something right?"

"Don't know if you have noticed Fugo-san, but I ain't an _organism_...as in I ain't biological," Labrys answered. "And I'm assumin' it isn't really the Arrow that creates Stands, but that weird virus that's coverin' it, correct?"

Fugo stared wide-eyed at Labrys. "How did you know-"

"I scanned it earlier, and my sensors immediately picked up on a virus that seems to be thrivin' on it. Doesn't match any parameters I have stored up on Earth-based pathogens, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it ain't from around these parts."

Labrys stood up from her chair. "If that's the case Fugo-san, then there's no way I'd get a Stand like how you probably did...considerin' that a robot like me can't be affected by viruses."

"Okay...sure," Fugo scratched his head. "Then can you explain why the Arrow decided to fuse itself to those weird crystals in your heart?"

"They're called Plumes of Dusk," Labrys explained. "And frankly? I don't know why the Arrow is stuck to em', and I don't know what's up with those weird veins either. But I'm sure its nothin', considerin' I'm functionin' at peak capacity according to my self-diagnostic, broken memory files and a few disabled minor ancillary functions notwithstandin'."

The gynoid tapped Fugo on the chest. "Now, will ya please drop it? I have enough to worry besides your accusations that I have a monster inside me."

Fugo let out a soft sigh. He raised his hands in defeat. "Alright, fine. Forget I said anything then..."

A knock on the door caused both of their heads to snap towards it.

"Oh, he's back," Fugo got up and went to the door to open it. One of the sunglasses-wearing men peeked in, holding up a large bag crammed heavy with objects.

"Thank you," Fugo said to the man, who bowed and retreated out of sight without saying a word.

Labrys didn't know who those guys were or what their relationship to Fugo was, but they obviously treated him with respect. And from their stone-like faces, she found them to be more robotic than her.

"Alright...try these on," Fugo suddenly shoved the bag into Labrys's arms.

"Huh?" A slightly bewildered Labrys said. She peeked inside and saw a pile of clothes, neatly folded in individual plastic bags, each still with their price tags attached. She didn't have a currency translator as a functionality, though based on the amount of zeros she saw, she could tell they were on the pricey side. Fugo must be a rich man.

"This...is for me?"

"Of course. Who else?"

"Oh…" Labrys pointed at Fugo's suit. "I thought these clothes were for you, considerin' all the holes in your suit. Thought ya needed a new one."

Fugo narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips. "I'm going to forget you said that."

He waved at Labrys's body. "Don't know if you noticed, but your mechanical body parts is going to attract attention...so we have to cover them up. I want you to put those clothes on...to cover as much of your robot body as you can."

Labrys glanced down at herself, at her clearly artificial limbs that were a stark contrast with Fugo's, or any human's for that matter. He had a point. If she were to go out as she was now, she might as well be also holding a beacon for her mysterious assailants, whoever they may be, to attack her out in the open.

She looked up to see Fugo put his hands into his pockets as he retreated coolly to the door.

"Where are you goin' Fugo-san?"

Fugo stopped and glanced over his shoulder. "I'm not gonna be inside a room where a girl is about to get changed." He swept his hand over his jagged hair. "It goes against my image."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about decency Fugo-san," Labrys smiled, lifting up her gown with one hand. "As you can see, my metal body doesn't have anythin' to show-"

The door slammed shut as Fugo bolted out the door before she could say her piece.

Labrys sat in awkward silence for a moment. She took out the first article of clothing and when she saw what he was expecting her to wear, she thought there it had to be a joke.

"Ya gotta be kiddin' me. He wants me to wear _this?"_

* * *

After she had fully changed, Labrys was hesitant to knock on the door. She looked utterly ridiculous.

When she finally worked up the courage to knock, the door opened and Fugo's head appeared out from behind it. "You finished?"

"Yeah," Labrys mumbled begrudgingly.

Her top consisted of a silver hoodie jacket with sleeves short enough to allow maximum movement of her arms and didn't hinder the use of her chain knuckles. For her bottom, she wore a pair of torn denim jeans that was just stretchy enough to fit over her metal legs, the more bulkier parts around her upper thigh poking through the purposefully placed rips on the sides.

Had it been a _normal_ jacket and jeans, she wouldn't have minded the outfit too much. However, they were far, _far_ from normal. For one, the collar flaps of her jacket were covered in various sparkling pins, depicting everything from peace signs to broken hearts. The tassels around the hood were blue and ended in tiny plastic double-bladed axes. Rows of red vines covered the surface of the jacket, while the sleeves were lined with soft dark fur like it was skinned from some tiny animal. Like a dog. Labrys didn't know why but the thought horrified her, as if she'd known someone very close in her past that had a fondness for small dogs.

However, the most glaring feature of the jacket had to have been the heart-shaped cutout around her chest. It exposed the upper section of the black, cropped halter top she was forced to wear underneath, which had two thin yellow straps that criss-crossed each other. A sparkling, violet butterfly brooch pinched the straps at the point where they met in the center, hovering right over where her Plumes of Dusk were. She was glad she had a robot body with nothing to worry about in terms of modesty, for if she was human girl, she'd probably be blushing at the tiny bits of cleavage that the straps couldn't cover.

Her jeans weren't as outrageous, but her belt was another story. It was studded with silver pins that resembled the profiles of skulls, specifically those of some bovine-like animal, with a length of chain running through them, all around the entire circumference of the belt.

"Do...do I really I hafta wear this?" Labrys stared awkwardly at her outfit.

"Yes," Fugo said sternly. "Also, mind putting on the detached sleeves too?"

Labrys scrunched her eyebrows. "Why?"

"We need to hide your arms. I mean...no offense, but they look like bright red fire hydrants with fingers. We're trying to be inconspicuous remember?"

Labrys grumbled.

 _He calls this inconspicuous?_

She had purposefully left the detached sleeves back in the bag because she didn't think she'd need them, and they were going to make her already ridiculous attire even more so. However, it didn't seem like Fugo was going to let her leave without completing her outfit.

With an annoyed grunt, she went back in the room and put on the detached sleeves. They were colored black with three yellow plastic bands woven into it, lined with tiny hearts. They looked more ridiculous on her than she had thought they would, but thankfully they didn't impede the use of her chain knuckles, being only wrapped around the forearms.

Labrys brandished her heart studded arms to Fugo. "There? Now ya happy?"

Fugo tapped his chin, eyeing her from top to bottom like an art enthusiast studying a museum piece. "You mind pulling the hood over your head?"

"The hood?"

"So you can hide the stuff around your head, and those metal wing things on your long ponytail."

Labrys grumbled again. She pulled the hood over, which thankfully was big and stretchy enough to fit over her headgear. It couldn't fit over her massive ponytail in its entirety, its end forced to spill out the front, swinging over a shoulder. The metal panels flanking her hair slipped through the slits cut into the hood's back, which defeated the purpose of having a hood.

"Perfect," Fugo clasped his hands together. "Now your robot parts are barely noticeable."

Labrys stared at her outfit, now complete. There had to have been a mistake, because her outfit made her stand out more than her robotic body did. She wasn't an expert on human fashion by any means, but she could tell what she was wearing was on the opposite spectrum as "normal".

"Fugo-san...you sure this outfit won't make me stand out?"

"What do you mean?" Fugo nonchalantly replied. "It's just a normal jacket and jeans."

Labrys shot Fugo a look. "Really? _Normal_? A normal jacket with a heart-shaped cutout right over my _cleavage_? Not that I have any...but still!"

"What's wrong with that? A lot of my friends have clothes with cutouts over their chest. Its very fashionable."

Labrys wanted to give a feisty reply. Then she remembered she was talking to a guy who un-ironically wears a suit that seemed to have been cut from a piece of sickly green cheese rather than cloth and a strawberry tie that would have been more fitting for a girl. For him, her outfit was probably more normal than his, though she did remember that neither or Murolo or the men outside seemed to have batted an eye at his ridiculous clothes when they were with him.

Humans are weird.

"Now, then. Let's get out of here. The smell of chlorine is getting to me."

Labrys saw Fugo leave. She was wary of going outside with her clothes, feeling a very human notion of embarrassment. She slumped her shoulders and tucked her hands into her jacket's pockets, trying to be as small as possible so no one would notice.

The moment they stepped out, the men began bowing immediately. Fugo gave a curt nod back to each of them. One of the men, a particularly big, bald man with an over-sized beard walked forward.

"Excuse me Mr. Fugo. Before you leave, we have something that we think may belong to the _signorina_ here."

The man twerked his head towards Labrys.

"Me?" Labrys said.

The man nodded. He waved at a group of more men in suits that the gynoid only now noticed were at the end of the hallway. There were three of them, each of them helping carry what looked to be an massive rectangular instrument case. By the looks of strain on their faces and the repeated breaths they took, three men was just barely enough to carry whatever heavy object was inside it.

"What the heck is that?" Fugo said. Labrys noticed he was looking to her for an answer.

"Beats me," Labrys shrugged. "I ain't a musician or anythin'."

The three men placed the case down as gently as they could. Two stood back and assumed the same military posture as the other men, while one kneeled and unfastened the locks to reveal what was inside.

Labrys's eyes lit up.

Inside the case was a gigantic axe, one blade folded over the other and attache to a pole-like handle, currently retracted down to the cylindrical end of the pommel to properly fit inside the case. Miniature engines could be seen inside the oval-shaped spaces in each blade. A blue wire ran from the blade to the handle, similar in shape and color to the one running through Labrys's own hair.

Labrys may not remember much, but the one thing she couldn't forget was her trusty multi-use weapon, a weapon that an essential part of her being as much as her Plume of Dusk fragments were. It also helped the information on her axe was pre-set into her model information screen, so whatever system failure had corrupted her memories wouldn't have affected her knowledge of something that was literally built for her.

"What...the hell is that?" Fugo whispered, clearly never seeing such a fine weapon before.

"The man who brought the signorina in…" The bearded man proceeded to explain. "...he brought her in with _this_ attached to her back."

Labrys beamed, not waiting for the permission of anyone to go pick it up. While it took three human men to carry it, she lifted it with only one hand effortlessly, and in her excitement she accidentally caused the handle to fully extend, the blades to unfold, forcing Fugo and the other men to immediately duck.

"Whoa! Careful where you're swinging that thing! Put that away before you take someone's head off!"

"Huh?" Labrys noticed the men had retreated far from her. Bits of plaster drifted down in front of her. She looked up and noticed a scar on part of the ceiling, which was low enough for the tip of the axe to scratch it by accident. Which she did.

"Oops. Sorry 'bout that."

Deciding it was best not to continue swinging the unwieldy weapon in such a tight corridor, she decided to place it away on her back, which stuck to her like glue.

Fugo continued to stare. "Labrys...please put that away inside the instrument case."

"Oh I don't need to Fugo-san," Labrys cheerfully said. "I have special magnets in on my body that conveniently allow me to stick the axe to my back, even through clothes. That's more efficient that luggin' that hunk of plastic around. Plus I can't use the thrusters on it to fly otherwise."

The men in suits exchanged wary glances with each other. Fugo pinched his brow again. Labrys noticed that he had a tendency to do that a lot.

"Labrys...that's not the point. Remember what I said about inconspicuous? A freakin' battle axe nearly the same size as your upper body is the complete opposite of that."

Labrys flashed an embarrassed grin, rubbing the back of her head. "Oh right. I guess it does stick out like a sore thumb."

She removed her axe and with a light tap on the handle, it retracted back to its more compact form. She placed it back into the instrument case. She looped her arms around the case's straps and wore the case on her back, which felt as light as a schoolkid's backpack given her strength.

"I'd prefer it if you left that thing somewhere else," Fugo murmured. He crossed his arms. "But I have a feeling you aren't going to part with it, are you?"

Labrys shook her head. "Sorry Fugo-san, but this axe is like a body part to me. And like a body part, I can't just be leave it behind."

"Fair enough," Fugo scratched his chin. "All I ask is that you not take that thing out in public. Remember, we-"

"Yeah yeah. Keep a low profile. Got it."

"Good...you're learning," Fugo said. He waved at Labrys to follow him. "Let's go then."

He turned to the men. "I'll handle it from here."

The men bowed and returned to their positions.

Only now did Labrys find it peculiar that the room was guarded by men in suits instead of normal staff. In fact, there were no doctors and nurses around, nothing in terms of normal staff. The whole hallway was otherwise deserted besides them.

She scanned the men out of curiosity.

 _Huh. They must take security in this place very seriously, because those are some pretty big guns beneath those suits._

* * *

With all that talk about fitting in and not sticking out, Labrys assumed that everyone in Venice was going to be dressed as bizarrely as they did. She was wrong... _dead_ wrong.

Everyone else dressed in otherwise normal clothing, with no chest cutouts or unnecessary accessories. If Labrys's face had any blood vessels, she was certain they'd be red right now as she wove through the people crowding the Venetian streets, wanting nothing more than to hide her face as she did so.

To her surprise however, the crowd barely paid them any heed, except for a few people that smiled and waved at Fugo along the way.

"Morning Mr. Fugo! How's it going?"

"Great day, isn't it Mr. Fugo?"

"Nice to see you again in Venice, Mr. Fugo!"

Fugo would greet them just as warmly at them back, and would occasionally start small conversations with them. One man who was operating a fruit cart even went out of his way to offer Fugo an apple, and strangely enough the man was happy to decline any payment from him, despite the latter offering.

Humans were _really_ weird. Or perhaps only the sub-group of humans known as Italians were this strange.

"Hey Fugo-san," Labrys said as they walked. "A lot of people in this city seem to know you."

"Yeah...seems so," Fugo flatly responded.

"I know Murolo-san seemed hesitant to answer...but I have to know. Just who are you guys really?"

Fugo remained silent for a bit, obviously pondering what was the best thing to say to answer her question.

"Well, since we're going to be together for a long while, might as well tell you…"

He stopped in the middle of the street and spun to face Labrys. "Me and Murolo...we work for the most powerful man in this entire country."

Labrys's eyes went wide. She didn't know what answer she was expecting, though certainly not the one Fugo gave. "Really?"

Fugo's lips curled into a grin swelling with pride. "Yes really."

"Whoa. Is he like a president or senator or somethin'?"

"I suppose you can see it like that. After all, he's responsible for a large number of people, just like how a president or senator would be...only I think he does a much _much_ better job at taking care of them."

"So...who is he? If he isn't a president or senator?"

"I'd tell you," Fugo's expression darkened. "But I'd have to _kill_ you."

Labrys froze at the sight of Fugo's intense gaze, at his sudden shift in demeanor. She felt a cold shiver go down her artificial spine. She could practically feel the _murderous intent_ rolling off of him. Then his grim expression did another complete one eighty as he broke out into a laugh.

"Ha! Just kidding! You should've seen the expression on your face."

Labrys was not amused. "I don't see what's so funny Fugo-san."

"Alright, sorry," Fugo said. "Truth is though, I'd prefer to keep his identity a secret to someone that's an outsider to our organization...at least for the time being until we figure out fully what's going on."

The man tapped his head. "Especially with that thing in your brain, which can tell you anything about a subject if you just feed it a phrase or word, correct?"

Labrys frowned. "You don't trust me Fugo-san?"

"Oh, I'm sure you're a pretty trustworthy person. But it'd look bad on _me_ if I let slip my boss's name in front of someone who've I've only met just today. Right?"

"Yeah...that makes sense I guess," Labrys replied.

They continued to walk along the streets, with the gynoid mesmerized by the abundance of new sights around them. She picked up on aromas of foodstuffs that she was unfamiliar with. Some of them were so alluring that she almost wished she had the ability to eat, and found herself jealous of the people who could as they wove in and out of the many bustling cafes and restaurants around them. She also saw more boats speeding along the water besides them, some that seemed to serve the function of police cruisers and ambulances. She wondered if there were boat firetrucks too.

Eventually, she caught sight of a sign that said the Ponta della Liberta was only a few miles north of where they were now.

"So...remind me again. Was it you guys who found me floating around this Ponta della Liberta place?"

"Not us," Fugo drew a small brooch out of his pocket in the shape of a ladybug. "A man found you, one who had this on him."

Labrys stared at the object in Fugo's palm. "A ladybug?"

"This isn't just an ordinary ladybug. It's a brooch that is the symbol of our boss. Anyone whom he gives one too means he owes a favor to that particular person. And by proxy, the whole ga-...I mean organization is obligated to honor that favor should that brooch be returned."

Fugo pocketed the brooch. He looked at Labrys solemnly. "And the favor the man asked for? It was for us to protect you."

"Protect...me?" Labrys whispered.

She really wished she could remember now, because there seemed to be a _lot_ of crap that happened. It was as if she had went on an entire bizarre adventure, and couldn't recollect a single detail of it. What was especially nagging was this man that Fugo claimed had found her and was obviously looking out her wellbeing.

Who was this man? And why does he want her protected?

Just what the heck was going on? Just what bizarre adventure did she find herself in?

"Your mind is probably full of questions...but before you ask, we don't know anything about him," Fugo let out a soft exhale. "Heck, I didn't even see the man myself. I'm just the guy they decided to make me your bodyguard."

"Bodyguard?" Labrys found that notion odd, considering she was an advanced combat machine who was far stronger and faster than he could ever be as a human being. If anything, the roles should be reversed.

Unless he wasn't just talking about himself.

"You mean you and your Stand, Purple Haze, right Fugo-san? Because frankly I should be guardin' you if ya didn't have that monster with you."

"It's not a monster," Fugo responded. "And I'm not the _only_ one who will be guarding you."

He looked down at his fancy watch. "Speaking of which, we're late."

"Late?" Labrys asked. "To what?"

"Late for lunch. Come on, the cafe is not too far from here," Fugo twerked his head towards a street that was going the opposite way that the sign said was towards the Ponte della Liberta.

"A cafe? I thought we were goin' to that really long bridge we saw earlier. Y'know...the place where I was found."

"We can do that later," Fugo waved his hand dismissively. "Right now, it's lunchtime, a sacred time for us Italians."

Fugo thumbed down the street. "Besides, we aren't going there just because we're taking a break. We have people to meet there. People who will be accompanying us to the Ponte della Liberta."

Fugo turned and went down the street. Before Labrys could follow or even ask who those people were, a large crowd of people with flashing phones and cameras walked in between them, cutting her off.

"Ah!" The gynoid noticed Fugo getting farther away. "Wait up Fugo-san!"

Labrys tried to push through the crowd as gently as she could, reminding herself that she could hurt someone with her strength if she wasn't careful. So distracted was she in doing so that she didn't notice the man she was about to bump into until it was too late.

"Oof!" Labrys fell over on her rear, her axe rattling inside the instrument case. She winced and rubbed her backside.

A gentlemanly voice called out to her. "Scusa' signorina...are you alright?"

Labrys looked up to see the man she had accidentally bumped into. She found relief that she finally, _finally_ ran into someone who wore clothes as outrageous as her's or Fugo's.

He was a pasty skinned man with a hot pink mop top covered in long black stripes that almost made him look as if he killed a pink zebra and put its skin on his head, but Labrys was certain that it wasn't a wig he was wearing but his natural hair, which frankly was even more unbelievable. His ears werepierced with earrings that looked like tiny black balls with smiling sets of teeth. His clothes consisted of a leather jacket with spikes on its shoulders, and a blue shirt underneath that had the image of a grinning, red-lipped mouth letting out a long tongue.

He regarded Labrys with eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, which made it harder to read his true expression.

"Please forgive me, I need to do a better job of seeing where I was going," The man said, his mouth almost coming to match the one on his t-shirt as he gave a wide grin. He offered a hand to her, who took it and lifted herself up. She could have stood up on her own, but it'd be rude not to take the stranger's hand.

"Are you alright signorina?"

"Yeah...yeah I'm fine. Don't worry about it mister."

"Hey…" The man's smile grew. "You from Sicily?"

"Uh...no," Labrys replied honestly. In hindsight, she should've had said yes, which would have been the less suspect answer given how flawless her Sicilian was.

"Well, that's damn good Sicilian for a girl who isn't from there…"

Without warning, the man put his hand on Labrys's shoulder. He inched closer. Too close.

"And that case on your back...you play music? If so, it's a crime to leave a girl as pretty and talented like you all by yourself..."

The urge to get away from the man was becoming stronger with every passing second. He had been nice initially, but the gynoid could feel the sliminess come off him like an aura.

"If you're not here with anyone...I can show you around," The man licked his lips. Labrys couldn't see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but could feel them bore into her wolfishly.

Labrys clenched her teeth. Her database may have had all the information she'd ever want on chitons, but had nothing how to deal with really awkward social interactions with humans. And as much as she wanted to, she resisted the desire to slam the instrument case containing her axe into the man's face. For one, that'd probably kill him. Two, that would definitely cause a scene, and that's the exact opposite of what she or Fugo wanted.

"No thanks," Labrys said, pushing herself away from the man. "I'm already here with someone else."

"Someone else eh?" The man gave a sleazy chuckle. "I bet I can show you a better time around these parts those parts than-"

A fist flew out of the peripherals of Labrys's vision. The man failed to notice up until the point the fist had already collided into his cheek, with such force that his sunglasses flew off his face along with a few of his teeth. He collided into the pavement, screaming bloody murder.

Labrys turned to see who the fist belonged to. "Fugo-san!"

Fugo had appeared out of nowhere. His expression showed no signs of rage, but his eyes were a different story, holding a calm fury in his eyes as he stared down at the man he punched with as much contempt as one human being can show to another.

"Ack! Fucking shit!" The man coughed out more bloodied teeth the more he cursed. He glared angrily at Fugo. Without his sunglasses, Labrys saw that his eyes had tiny black, beady pupils. "What's your fucking problem asshole?"

"My problem is with spineless rats like you who think you can get away with anything," Fugo said with condescension, though not anger, as if the man was miles beneath him. "Scram before I make you regret it."

The man let loose a hiss that sounded like it should have came from a snake's throat. He stood up and puffed his chest, walking to Fugo. The men stood only inches away from each other, the heat intensifying between them as they stared into each other's eyes.

Labrys was afraid a fight was about to break out between the two. She clenched her fists, ready to break it up if necessary, but just as the animosity between the man and Fugo reached a peak, it evaporated as the man retreated.

"Tch. Whatever," The man mumbled.

He picked up his sunglasses and walked away.

A wave of relief washed over Labrys. Things could've turned ugly real fast, and she was glad it didn't. However, she looked around and saw that the little scuffle didn't go unnoticed. Dozens of people stopped what they were doing, all staring at her and Fugo.

Fugo noticed the attention too. He turned the same intense gaze he showed the man to the people around them. "Hey, what are you all gawking at? This ain't a circus. Beat it."

He stomped his foot and everyone immediately turned away and went about their own business.

"Good grief. To think there's still people who don't know the reputation Passione has around these parts. Guess some people just live under a rock."

He turned to Labrys. "Sorry about that. Not everyone here in Venice is a true gentleman, as you just found out. You gotta be careful out here."

Labrys cleared her throat. "Fugo-san...you didn't tell me you were a gangster."

The words put Fugo into a visible state of shock.

"Alright...how the hell did you-"

"You said Passione...just now!," Labrys pointed at Fugo. "I ran a search on that term, and although my database is missin' a lot, it had one entry on what that is."

Labrys's hand trembled at Fugo. "It says Passione is the biggest crime syndicate in all of Italy! All of you guys are criminals! You lied to me! You guys aren't like presidents or senators...but the complete opposite!"

Fugo remained composed, even as Labrys lobbed the accusations at him. He let out a deep breath.

"Yeah...you're right. I'm a gangster. So is Murolo and the man I work for. And so is everyone we're going to meet."

Fugo placed his hand on his hip. "But so what?"

"So what?" Labrys raised her voice. "What do you mean _so what_!? Now I understand why Murolo-san was so hesitant to say who he worked for! Why you refused to tell me the name of your boss!"

She shook her head. "It's because its a _mob_ boss you work for, right?"

"Yup. The biggest one in Italy," Fugo said. His tone was nonchalant that it was beginning to irritate the gynoid. "Again, how does that change anything?"

"What...what do you mean?" Labrys murmured.

"I'm still your bodyguard, and I still plan on doing my job properly," Fugo said, with the lecturing tone of a professor giving a lesson. "And need I remind you that the man who found you, rescued you from the waters around the Ponte della Liberta, was purposefully asking _us_ , the biggest crime syndicate in all of Italy, to protect you and no one else. And you want to know why?"

Fugo fanned his arms. "Because Passione isn't like any other gang. Don't know what your database tells you, but we look out for people when the cops or politicians are too busy sitting on their asses to do anything. We're there for those who can't defend themselves."

The gangster sighed. "Look, I get it. We're not perfect like the heroes in comic books and television shows, but nothing in this world is. Trust me when I say that all I want is your safety, and to get to the bottom of the mystery of who or what attacked you."

Fugo took out the ladybug brooch once more. "Because if there's one thing we gangsters value above else...more than gold or money...is honor. And by the honor of this brooch, a symbol of trust from Don Giorno Giovanna himself...I am obligated to watch out over you, whether you like it or not."

The words coming from the gangster were sincere, almost poetic as if he'd been practicing the same speech over and over again. So sincere that Labrys found herself nearly convinced. Nearly.

However, whether she fully trusted him or not, he did raise a good point. With no allies to speak of, Fugo was the closest person she had to a….dare she say it? An ally. Especially in a foreign country that she knew nothing about beyond what little scraps of information that wasn't purged by the system failure which claimed a good chunk of her memories. He was the only person she's met so far that can help her understand what was going on, even if his occupation happened to be less than savory.

"Fine. I'll go with you Fugo-san," Labrys said.

"Good," Fugo smiled, putting back the ladybug brooch. "Now how about we-"

"If you try anythin' funny though, I'm callin' the cops."

"Sure sure, whatever you-...wait what?"

Labrys touched her round ears tucked beneath her hood. "I have a built in radio device. I can phone the authorities anytime I want. But I'm not goin' to, unless you guys try to tie me to a cement block or somethin' messed up like that."

Fugo wagged his finger. "Alright, first of all that's a cliche. An _American_ cliche I might add. And second...fine. If you really feel like you would be put in danger in any way from us, feel free to leave our company anytime."

Labrys expected more resistance. "Really? Just like that?"

"Yeah...really," Fugo replied. "Besides...I've seen the way you handle that axe of yours, when three grown men had trouble lifting it. And Murolo told me your skin was bulletproof."

He wagged his finger at Labrys. "Ask yourself this...what does a super strong robot chick with an axe that looks like it could cut a car in half have anything to fear from a bunch of mob goons? You don't even need to call the cops...you can just beat the shit out of us and run anytime you wish, and we probably wouldn't be able to catch you. If anything, we should be ones afraid of you."

"I could...except you have that Stand thing with you," Labrys replied. She could not get the sight of those deranged, striped eyes out of her head no matter how hard she tried. "How do I know ya won't use it against me?"

Fugo laughed. "Trust me. As scary as Purple Haze seems, its ability couldn't harm a single hair on your head."

He nudged his head. "I'll be going to the cafe to meet my friends. Come with me...or not. You decide."

And just like that, Fugo turned his back to Labrys and walked at a brisk pace down the street, making no attempts to cajole her further.

Labrys stood alone, mulling over her thoughts. The decision would have been easy if Fugo was a clear bad guy, but she wasn't so sure anymore.

She sighed. "Damn it."

Had there been any other way, she wouldn't have followed the gangster, a member of this Passione which her database was quick to inform was one of the most prolific organized crime groups to have ever existed.

But with no one else to turn to, she really didn't have a choice.

Besides, its as Fugo said. If they turn out to scumbags, she always had the option to beat them all up.

With that comforting thought in mind, she hurried after the gangster. "Hey! Wait up Fugo-san!"

* * *

"Damn it," The man with the zebra-striped mop top hissed. He rubbed his jaw, which was sore from when that human slugged him.

Though it could have been worse. Had he been human himself, his teeth wouldn't have fully grown back as if he'd had never been struck at all.

As he ducked through the crowd, he continued to think of the girl he bumped into.

"That girl thought I was getting close to her because I was just being a sleazeball," The man whispered to himself, licking his teeth that were now pearly white once more. "She didn't realize I was getting close because of her _unique_ scent."

The man looked over his shoulder, down the street where he had first noticed the scent of the girl.

His mouth curled into a grin so wide, it seemed like it should've belonged on a bigger head. "She doesn't know...that I managed to get「close」enough to smell the「scent」of the「Arrow of Miracles」on her…"

The man's smile turned into a disgusted scowl. "But that was not all. I felt the presence of some pretty big Plume of Dusk fragments...which only means one thing…"

The man pulled out his phone. Displayed on it was a text message with a single image displayed within its body, that of a Wild West style wanted poster with a picture of a girl with piercing red eyes and lengthy ponytail, her inhuman nature made obvious by the mechanical apparatus around her head.

 **FIFTH GENERATION ANTI-SHADOW SUPPRESSION WEAPON LABRYS**

 **WANTED - DEAD OR ALIVE (PREFERABLY DEAD)**

 **CRIMES: EXISTING AND BEING A GENERAL NUISANCE**

 **REWARD: A TREASURE CHEST FROM** **「** **IL MIETITORE** **」** **HIMSELF**

The man continued reading the bold, red text at the very bottom of the poster.

 **IMPORTANT: REWARD CONTINGENT ON PROCUREMENT OF THE** **「** **ARROW OF MIRACLES** **」** **HIDDEN INSIDE HER HEART. MUST BE RETURNED IN ABSOLUTELY PRISTINE CONDITION.**

 **FEEL FREE TO MAIM, CRUSH, LACERATE, MUTILATE AND/OR DEVOUR THE REST OF HER AS LONG AS THE ARROW IS INTACT.**

The man licked his lips.

"She looks different than how she looks in the photograph...but I could tell its her from the Plumes of Dusk _and_ the Arrow I sensed inside her."

The man placed his phone away. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking, and quickly ducked into the nearest dark, obscure alleyway he could find. He removed his sunglasses, his eyes sparkling with a faint glow under the shadows of the alleyway.

When he was certain there was no around to see what he was about to do, he held an open palm in front of him. A shape slithered across his shoulder, climbing up his arm with sharp, bony spider-like legs. However, it wasn't a spider the legs were attached to, but a blue mask with spherical sockets, its nose tall and triangular, its mouth was curled into a permanent frown, a contrast to the malicious grin plastered across the man's face. The mask deposited itself into the man's hand, its legs retracting fully into its sides.

"There's a chance the rest of **「** La Comunita **」** will be after her soon...but if I were to take her out first and rip that Arrow out of her heart myself, my reputation will skyrocket! Il Mietitore will finally see my worth! And I get a **「** Treasure Chest **」** out of the deal too!"

A series of mad, cackling laughter left the man's throat as he slammed the mask onto his face. The instant he did, the bony tendrils erupted from its edges once more, piercing the man in various parts of the scalp and neck.

A dark shadowy aura erupted from the mask as two glowing golden eyes, covered in vertical lines, appeared in the mask's sockets. The mask's frown instantly turned into a smile as the aura enveloped the wearer, twisting his body into a new shape.

The aura soon vanished in wisps of black smoke as he landed on all fours, no longer a man but a monster. Its body had a similar humanoid build as its human guise, but it felt more natural crawling on the ground like a lizard with its tautly muscled limbs, his hands and feet ending in sharp claws. The clothes it had worn had vanished within the shadowy aura, its leathery hide pink and covered in black bands like the hair of its human form.

A long, dark tongue slithered between the rows of glistening conical teeth lining its red-lipped mouth, the only discernible feature on its otherwise featureless round head...except for the mask now nailed to the back of its scalp. Its true face had switched places with the back of its head during his transformation sequence.

The creature spoke, its voice higher pitched than the man's and containing an echoing inflection, as if there were two voices mashed together as one.

"With my unique「Skill」ability...I'll make short work of that glorified toaster! Or my name isn't「Born Slippy」!"

 **~SLIPPING HABLERIE TYPE SHADOW-HUMAN: BORN SLIPPY~**

The beast let out a series of cackling, hyena-like laughter, its tongue lapping the air like a lizard's. With a power that could only be granted from otherworldly muscles, it jumped several feet into the air and stuck himself to the wall of the alleyway, its hands and feet clinging to the flat surface like how a gecko's would. It scampered out of view, leaving no trace that it had ever been inside the alleyway at all.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Stand Name:** Metalheart

 **User:** E'nuff Z'nuff

 **Destructive Power:** E

 **Speed:** E

 **Range:** Five feet

 **Durability:** A

 **Precision:** D

 **Development Potential:** E

 **Ability:** Can cause synthetic or mineral substances to regenerate on their own, making it ideal for repairing broken down cars or robot schoolgirls with funny accents.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This chapter took longer than I had expected, mainly due to me being sick this morning, of all mornings. (Thanks Santa).

There's also a lot that went on during this chapter, including Labrys getting a new fabulous outfit and the introduction of the first enemy in the series (barring the first chapter).

Those few of you who read my old fic will remember Born Slippy, the first ever Shadow Human fought in the prior version. What always nagged at me though was how lame I made his ability (Sticking things? Really?) and how needlessly complicated I made the "rules" for his "race", including the silly idea that they need human hosts to survive out in the real world, which made the fights more confusing than they needed to be. Plus I missed out on also naming their unique powers _also_ after music, which was a _huge_ wasted opportunity that I was ashamed of not thinking of.

With that in mind, I've made the Shadow Humans much more simple this time around, taking inspiration from the monsters-of-the-week of various tokusatsu superhero shows, mainly from a few select seasons of Kamen Rider which I've been bingeing as of late (namely the Gurongi from Kamen Rider Kuuga, with bits of the Worms from Kabuto and Undead from Blade thrown in there for a good mix). They're basically shape-shifting monsters that can switch between human and Shadow Human forms simply by donning their specific Arcana's mask. And of course, they have traits of both regular enemy Shadows and Stands, which makes them particularly dangerous for reasons that will be explained later in the story, though I surmise some of you can guess what those reasons are. In addition to all of that, the name "Shadow Human" is indeed a blatant shout out to the Rock Humans from Jojolion.

And before anyone asks, that bolded headline which appears shortly after Born Slippy says his name is a homage to those really old-school tokusatsu shows, like when they introduce a monster for the first time in the episode. Again, that is the vibe I'm going for for these guys. However, feel free to let me know if you think the headlines should stick or go away.

As always, any feedback is welcome.

Best,  
Beef


	4. Meeting Fugo's Crew

**Chapter Four - Meeting Fugo's Crew**

"So...you decided to follow me after all," Fugo said, with a tone and a smirk that were both a bit too smug for Labrys's liking.

"I'm only followin' you because I got no one else," Labrys replied. "Until I figure out everything that's goin' on, we can consider this a temporary partnership. We ain't friends or anythin'."

"Fair enough," Fugo replied.

The gynoid saw that the gangster stood in front of a building with an eye-popping facade with red brick walls and a very decorative bronze archway that displayed the words "Duran Duran Cafe". A large sign sat on the side of the building, depicting a large coffee cup with stylized steam made of neon coming out of its top.

"This place is one of my favorites in Venice," Fugo pointed his thumb at the cafe's glass doors. "It has some of the best espresso around. You can't leave the city without trying it."

Labrys pursed her lips. "Fugo-san...I don't drink. Or eat for that matter."

Fugo raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Labrys nodded.

"Damn...that sucks," Fugo shook his head. "Whoever built you could've at least installed a stomach or something."

The gangster turned towards the door, only to stop in place as someone called out his name.

"Mr. Fugo!"

Fugo stopped and turned around the same time Labrys did, as a middle-aged man walked towards them. He was bald with a mustache, his gentle features suggesting a demeanor of a man who wouldn't hurt a fly. That made Labrys wary as he approached the gangster, now that she knew what kind of person the latter was.

"Oh. Hello Mr. Moschino. How are you doing today?"

The man gave a nervous grin. "I'm fine Mr. Fugo."

Judging by the tone in which he gave his answer, the way his eyes shifted and the elevation in his heartbeat, Labrys could tell his answer wasn't entirely sincere. Something was clearly bothering him.

"Mr. Fugo...I was wondering if you if I can speak to you about something...in private."

Fugo looked at the man for a quiet moment. He then turned to Labrys. "Wait here."

Labrys watched as the two men walked to a spot near the farthest corner of the cafe building. They talked in hushed whispers and were a dozen feet away, though they hopefully didn't know that Labrys's acute hearing sensors could make out each word of their secret conversation.

" _It's about my daughter. She's been missing for a week now."_

" _I see…did you try contacting the authorities?"_

She saw Mr. Moschino shake his head violently. His face had changed, turning grim. Moisture could be seen on the edges of his eyes. His voice began to shake.

" _They're useless! Couldn't find anything on her disappearance! Bunch of fat, bureaucratic pigs who can't do anything to help anyone!"_

Fugo put his hands up. " _Alright Mr. Moschino. Calm down. Tell me what I can do to help…_ "

With a shaking hand, Mr. Moschino reached into his vest and took out a tiny object, cupping it with both palms in a gesture that made it obvious it held great emotional significance for him. Out of curiosity, Labrys zoomed in on the object from afar with her visual sensors, seeing it was a tiny hairpin with the face of a pink, cartoon cat.

" _This...this is all I have of her. She wears two of these hairpins...but I only saw this one in her room._ "

Mesmerized by the scene, Labrys watched as Mr. Moschino put the pin away, right before he abruptly dropped to his knees, bowing his head to Fugo.

" _Please Mr. Fugo...you're a capo with those Passione guys right? I don't care what the media says, you Passione folks always stood out for us. If there's anyone that can find out where my daughter is, its you guys!"_

His fingers tightened on the legs of his pants. His watery eyes met Fugo's.

The gynoid noticed the gangster's body posture tighten. Signs that his mind was filling with hard thoughts. He let out a sigh, and then gave a burdened smile.

" _Mr. Moschino...I have a friend whose specialty is gathering information. I'll see what we can do._ "

Fugo giving an answer that had a tactful avoidance of any actual promises didn't escape Labrys's notice. Nonetheless, it did the job of lifting Mr. Moschino's spirits if his eyes perking up was any indication.

"Thank you Mr. Fugo!" Mr. Moschino said, loud enough for any human walking nearby to hear. He stood up and bowed repeatedly, repeating what he already said. "Thank you...thank you so much Mr. Fugo!"

Fugo gave a solemn nod, and Mr. Moschino walked away without another word. The gangster than walked towards Labrys. The moment he shot her a look, she was worried that he knew she's been eavesdropping, so she quickly looked away and whistled, feigning disinterest.

"Sorry about that," Fugo waved towards the door. "Shall we go in?"

"Um...sure…" Labrys replied slightly tensely. She was relieved that Fugo didn't seem to catch on to her having heard everything.

Fugo disappeared past the door but Labrys lingered just outside for a few seconds more. She had caught sight of Mr. Moschino shrinking into the distance. His shoulders were hunched and he walked with the sluggish pace of a man who was desperate to cling to any hope of getting the one bright spark in his life back, even as the ugliness of reality was bearing down on him like a lead weight.

She was designed to be human, built with all the baggage that came with it including the concept of empathy. As a result, she felt an aching in her heart as she wondered if the man and his daughter will ever see each other again.

* * *

The cafe was filled with patrons, but not enough to give the place a hectic atmosphere. There were just the right amount of people to keep things at a peaceful yet lively state, the modest volume of the conversations going on around the various tables not enough to make someone have to shout to be heard. Labrys couldn't eat or drink, though she found the aroma of warm coffee being brewed and pastries served fresh from the oven to be pleasant regardless.

"So, I'm going to give you a warning now about the guys we're about to meet," Fugo said to Labrys as they made their way to a table near the back. "They're... _strange_. Even by Passione standards."

Labrys furrowed her brow. "Strange? Stranger than havin' a monster live inside you?"

She noticed an ever slight half-smirk form on the corner of Fugo's lips. "Oh...you have no idea."

As they neared the table, Labrys noticed that the seats were vacant, despite there being a modest spread of cakes along with three coffee mugs. Each of the mugs were half-filled with liquid, and her sensors telling her they were still warm. However, the table wasn't entirely bereft of life as her sensors were quick to point out. A fluffy organism the size of a small dog, but wasn't one, sat on the crest bar of one of the chairs. It had a tiny beak and clawed, scaly feet, its body covered in feathers the hue of snow. It wore a tiny wool vest around its torso with the planet Saturn displayed on its chest, which the gynoid admittedly found kind of adorable.

The organism matched the parameters of what was commonly known as a "cockatoo".

"Yo. What up Fugo? 'Bout time you showed up. We thought you weren't going to show."

For an instant, Labrys thought her sensors were going array, which was just the fancy way of saying she was hearing things. The voice sounded like it belonged to a human male, but there was no one around the table. The only thing that was there was the bird, which had tilted its head, the feathers atop its head extending into a mohawk shape. It opened its beak, and Labrys fully expected a screech or squawk to come out of it, or the broken mimicked phrases of humans, all of which were common sounds made by the avian species according to her database.

"Who's the pretty girl?"

Labrys's eyes went wide. Her jaw dropped. She had found the owner of the voice earlier, and it was the freakin' _bird_. And it wasn't just regurgitating phrases that it heard from other humans. She could hear the clear intent in the way it formed its words, the nuanced and elegant tones it took with its syllables. It sounded like an actual man, instead of having the high-pitched voice of a mimicking bird. It was speaking consciously, of its own volition.

"Who do you think?" Fugo bluntly answered back to the creature. "She's the girl I've been assigned to protect...and by proxy, we've _all_ been assigned to protect. Her name is Labrys."

"Oh...pleasure to meet you, _signorina_ ," The bird's beak stretched into a _smile_ , bringing into question if it was even made of rigid keratin or something else entirely _._ It winked with unusually emotive, almost human-like eyes, bowing and placing a wing across its chest as if it was an arm. Not only did it talk like a human, it acted like one too, its behaviors far beyond the capabilities of its species. The thought left Labrys speechless.

Fugo glanced at Labrys, not noticing her dumbfounded look. "Labrys...I'd like you to meet Lynyrd Skynyrd, but you can just call him Lynyrd. He's one of my...operatives, for a lack of a better word. Most likely because he doesn't like being called a pet."

"You're damn right I don't," The bird huffed. "I'll peck out the eyes of anyone that calls me that-"

Lynyrd paused, presumably from noticing that Labrys was inching closer and closer. She kneeled down beside the seat, her face only inches away from the bird. She didn't realize that her inquisitive wide-eyed stare was causing the creature visible discomfort. It tip-toed away from Labrys.

"Um...can I help you-"

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU!?" Labrys yelled, loud enough for a good portion of the cafe patrons around them to hear. Lynyrd jumped, feathers coming loose from his fluttering wings. A few of the other cafe-goers turned their heads towards the table.

"Geez, she's got quite the voice doesn't she?" Lynyrd murmured, plucking a feather into his ear opening the same way a human would plug a finger into the ear. Its feathery mohawk retracted.

"Hey, calm down," Fugo chimed in, patting Labrys on the shoulder. "No need to freak out like that."

"How can I not freak out Fugo-san?" Labrys said excitedly. "That bird just talked, and not just from mimickin' other people either! It can speak and think like a human! That shouldn't be possible!"

"Hey!" Lynyrd scowled. "Don't call me an _it_. I'm a _he_! I don't go around calling humans _its_ , so I expect the same treatment in return!"

He harrumphed and crossed its... _his_ wings like arms across his puffed chest. "And I ain't a normal bird. My Stand, **「** Free Bird **」** , allows me to be as smart as you humans, though I argue smarter, since a lot of you humans aren't that smart anyway."

"A Stand?" Labrys stood away from the chair. "You mean like Fugo-san's Purple Haze?"

Lynyrd raised a brow. "Wait...did you just refer to Fugo using a Japanese honorific?"

The bird's beak dropped. "And...did you just say _Purple Haze_?"

"She can see Stands," Fugo answered. "Its hard to explain."

The bird scratched his feathers. "Incredible...does she have one too?"

Fugo made a shrug. "She claims not to."

The bird's beak curved into a frown. Despite her computing power, Labrys has yet figured out how it could twist its beak into expressions. She figured it was a minor detail that she was never going to figure out, no matter how much it nagged at her.

"What? That doesn't make a lick of sense. If she could see Stands, she should have one too..."

Labrys looked to Fugo.

"Fugo-san...does _everyone_ in Passione have a Stand?"

"Not everyone, though I'd say a good number of us do," Fugo responded. "Including the non-human members, like Lynyrd. Or E'nuff Z'nuff."

Labrys leveled a brow. "E'nuff Z'nuff?"

"The chiton you saw in the hospital room. You never asked, so we never brought it up, but it...I mean _she_ was also a Stand-user, and her Stand was what was used to heal you from your injuries."

Labrys didn't even consider the creature she saw back in her hospital room, the being that her database had informed her had a nervous system so rudimentary that it lacked a brain, was capable of having a Stand. Granted, she barely knew anything about Stands, but the ability gave the impression that it required a lot of energy and could only be performed by beings of complex intelligence and traits, like humans. However, if even chitons and birds can get Stands...was there anything in this world that _couldn't_ get a Stand?

"By the way, Labrys was it?" Lynyrd murmured.

Labrys looked to the bird. "Uh...yes?"

"Is that Sicilian I hear?" Lynyrd asked.

"Yes...yes it is, Lynyrd-san."

Lynyrd smiled. "Lynyrd- _san_. Has a nice ring to it. I'm assuming you were raised in Japan at some point."

Labrys didn't know if that was true. She knew she was built on a place called Yakushima according to the information she could scrounge up on her model information, but the idea of being _raised_ there didn't seem apt.

"Regardless, Mila is sure to like you," The bird grinned. "She's going to be happy she found another person to speak Sicilian to."

"Oh right…" Fugo glanced around the table. "Speaking of Mila, where is she anyway?"

Almost as if on cue, a woman suddenly yelled out from behind them. " _Motherfucker! Where do ya think you're goin'!?_ "

All three heads turned to the direction of the voice, in time to see a man fall into view from the passageway of an adjacent dining room. He landed on his back, clearly scurrying away from something that utterly terrified him. From his reaction, Labrys thought he might've saw a monster or demon. Instead, it was neither, as a young woman soon appeared out of the same passageway, storming after him. A rather angry young woman.

"You didn't think I'd notice did ya? Ya fuckin' piece of shit!" The woman hissed, in an accent remarkably like Labrys's, albeit more natural. She bent down and grabbed the man by the cuff of his shirt with both hands, raising him off his feet with an incredible display of strength. She didn't seem to care that her outburst was drawing the attention of everyone in the cafe, including the baristas behind the counter.

She had an athletic yet petite build, being a head shorter than the man she was lifting. Her attire was fashionable and not overtly outrageous like Fugo's, consisting of a stylish sleeveless light grey vest covered in black wool spheres that brought to mind big chocolate chips, worn outside a shoulderless black turtleneck which exposed the tattoo of a dagger going through a broken heart on her left shoulder. Her forearms were covered in grey arm warmers dotted by the same wool "chocolate chips" found on her vest, giving her a cookie-like theme to match the fruity, strawberry theme of Fugo's clothing. She wore a leather skirt and military boots with chrome tips, her rather shapely legs wrapped in dark nylon stockings, each with two rows of silver lines that linked to the arrows pointing down on the sides of her boots, giving the illusion that they were physically connected. Her right hand was sheathed in a studded, leather glove, while her left wasn't.

It was the woman's appearance that caught Labrys off guard and not her temper. Her hair was colored a very light shade of green, except for the streak of purple across her prominent fringe. Her hairstyle consisted of a tight bun that was pinched by hairpins resembling miniature crossing swords. Her alabaster skin was marked by a tiny purple teardrop tattoo beneath one of her piercing green eyes.

There was something about the woman's appearance, something familiar about her face and the way she did her hair, that gave Labrys an eerie sense of deja vu.

"I saw the way ya shifted your dirty li'l eyes at me!" The woman's eyes thinned. "You were checkin' me outta the corner of your eye, like some piece of meat to be bought from the local butcher shop!"

She raised her gloved hand and, with a flick of the wrist that was too fast for even Labrys to follow, summoned a switchblade knife, one with a particularly ornate obsidian and red handle. The knife's blade was already out, gleaming under the cafe lights. The other patrons, without saying a word, immediately got up from their tables and began evacuating the cafe the instant they saw the weapon in the woman's hand. The baristas however, were pretty dedicated to their jobs, going about cleaning cups at the counter as if they didn't know what was going on.

The woman brought it to the man's neck. Beads of sweat ran down the man's flesh, which had gone understandably ghostly pale.

"P-please…" The man swallowed. "C-calm down."

"Oh? Ya want me to calm down?" The woman licked her lips. Her eyes held a predatory glint. Despite how furious she had seemed, it was hard not to fall under the impression that she was relishing her rage.

"I'll fuckin' calm down…" The woman brought the knife inches...centimeters to the man's neck. "... _after_ my knife has tasted warm blood... _yours_ that is."

Fugo ran forward and caught the woman's wrist before she could dig the knife any further. The woman stared daggers at Fugo, who returned her gaze with one equal in intensity.

"That's enough, Mila. You've already scared the other customers away."

For a tense moment, Labrys thought the woman known as Mila was going to turn on him next, like a lioness lashing out at anything trying to keep her away from her kill. Instead, she seemed to calm down in his presence, releasing the man from her grip. Then, in a sudden shift of demeanor, the woman's features softened. She smiled at the man.

"I'm sorry," Mila put her knife away and picked the man up, going so far as brushing his jacket. She bowed. She spoke in a gentle tone that was completely at odds with her earlier altercation with the man, as if the demon of rage had vanished from her body, replaced by someone far sweater. "Didn't mean to lose my temper like that. I know that was uncouth of me."

Mila's smile grew warmer at the man, who was utterly perplexed at her change in behavior just as much as it did Labrys.

"Hope ya have a nice day sir."

The man immediately bolted out the door without saying anything. Mila pursed her lips. "Man, he must be in a hurry to get somewhere."

"Don't mind her…" Lynyrd whispered close to Labrys's ear. So distracted with the appearance of Mila that the gynoid failed to notice the bird having perched upon her shoulder. "That's Mila Schon...Fugo's top enforcer. Despite her rather... _prickly_ exterior...she actually means pretty well and can be nice when she wants to be."

The bird brought his voice even lower. "But when she's angry, she can be likened to a storm. Best move out of the way if you can. The other people in the cafe had the right idea."

Labrys said nothing in response, partly because she was unfamiliar with most of the bird's colloquialisms, but mostly because she was struck with an epiphany as she studied Mila and knew why she seemed so familiar.

The light green hair, done in a bun. The black turtleneck which, under the right light, looked like it had the same texture as Labrys's synthetic skin.

Despite having never met this Mila before in her life, her appearance triggered a memory to bubble to the surface. It was an old, old memory, one that had escaped corruption like 85% of her other files. A memory that she hadn't thought about for a long time but one so personally important that she couldn't possibly forget, no matter what happens to her systems.

It was a simple memory, one of meeting a girl on an forested island. A girl with a warm smile, holding a small white dog in her arms. Arms that were made of steel like hers.

" _My unit number is 024. I wouldn't call it my name, but that's how they refer to me. What's yours?"_

"Unit #024…" Labrys found herself whispering.

The reason why Mila's appearance had caught Labrys off guard...was because she looked like Unit #024. Not exactly alike given some slight differences here and there, such as Mila's tattoos, her eye color being green instead of red, and, of course, the glaring fact that she was human, but the two looked similar enough for Labrys to peg them as close relatives. An illogical idea if there ever was one, given that Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons didn't have things like blood relations since they were robots. Still, the resemblance was _uncanny_. So uncanny that Labrys scanned Mila to make sure she was as human as she appeared, to make sure she wasn't going crazy. She found both a sense of relief and dejection that the readings came back human, complete with bio-electric signals, a body temperature and a heartbeat.

Except...there was something off about her right arm, the one that had the glove. It gave off no heat like the rest of her.

"Hey...never met you before."

Labrys snapped out of her scan of the woman. Distracted, she had not noticed Mila staring at her curiously.

"Do you not understand the words comin' outta my mouth?" Mila said. "You don't look like you're from around her."

"Her name is Labrys," Fugo replied. "She's the girl we've been tasked by Polnareff to protect."

Mila narrowed her eyes at Fugo, then turned to Labrys once more. She sauntered forward with her hands in the pockets of her skirt, and Labrys's first instinct was to run, though she only ended up standing deathly still. The woman began walking in a circle around the gynoid like a predator studying a potentially new type of prey. She eyed her from top to bottom, and Labrys could feel the back of her neck bristle under the scrutiny of this strange, strange woman.

"Labrys huh?" Mila gave a chuckle. "So...you gonna hit on me or what?"

The words flustered Labrys. "W-What?"

"I'm just sayin'...from the way you were starin' me just now..." Mila stared amusingly at her, with a hand placed on the cheek. The reaction was completely different than the one brought on by the man she threatened with her knife. "...it was obvious you were seein' somethin' you liked. Like the guy I almost stabbed."

"Mila…" Fugo's voice took on a chiding tone.

"N-no!" Labrys blurted out, waving her arms frantically. "It ain't like that at all!"

Her temperature regulating units detected a spike, accompanied by a thumping in her heart. She was relieved that she didn't have a blushing mechanic installed, otherwise her face would be as ripe as a tomato's right about now, and that'd only make the situation worse than it already was.

She wanted to explain that the reason for her staring at Mila was because she looked so much like Unit #024. However, that was just going to cause more confusion than it was worth, so she ended up just stuttering as she waited for her computer brain to calculate an answer that wasn't going to lead to more trouble. The answer never came.

Mila's eyes widened. "Hold up...was that Sicilian just now?"

"You guessed it," Lynyrd said, flying off of Labrys's shoulder to perch on Mila's, forcing a visible look of disdain on Mila's face. "Aren't you happy? You get another Sicilian to talk to."

"Please," Mila scoffed. "Her Sicilian might trick some tourist into thinkin' its the genuine article, but I could hear its cheap, bootleg nature from a mile away!"

No matter how much Mila reminded her of Unit #024, Labrys found that their personalities was like night and day. The woman's uncouth attitude and accent only made her eerie likeliness to Unit #024 even more surreal.

"But…" Mila's tone unexpectedly softened. "I suppose it's a _decent_ bootleg. Pretty impressive. Where'd you learn to speak Sicilian like that?"

"Um…" Labrys stammered. "It's my language module. It's set to Italian, but I guess due to a quirk within my system, it comes out as Sicilian."

Mila's face twisted into an expression of a befuddlement. "The hell does _that_ mean?"

"It means that, despite being an advanced human-like robot made from the most cutting edge of technology, she has specific unprecedented peculiarities within her innate programming that her creators could not foresee, mainly stemming from irregularities in the personality module built around the crystalline substance that serves as her heart. Among them is the presence of a Sicilian dialect despite having her language module, the software used to determine what language she uses to communicate with others, was set to baseline Italian. Am I correct signorina?"

All heads turned to Lynyrd.

It seems like Labrys was in no short of speechless moments today. Not only was the bird smarter than any avian had a right to be, he had to have been psychic. There was no way he could have known all of that, and they've only met a few seconds ago.

 _How...how the heck did it...I mean_ he _know that?_

Labrys caught movement around the bird, coming from a tiny wasp-like bug...made of the same energy that she had sensed on Purple Haze. It buzzed in the air around Lynyrd, inching near a bigger mass of the energy. A mass that took the shape of a dark, round object that she could barely make out before it vanished behind the cockatoo, taking the wasp with it.

 _Was...was that a beehive I saw just now?_

Labrys remembered back to Lynyrd's words, of how he explained that his Stand was the driving force behind his human-like intelligence. Perhaps she had just gotten a glimpse into its ability.

"Geez, that sounds like somethin' out of a sci-fi novel," Mila replied.

"Alright you two, that's enough," Fugo crossed his arms, giving both Mila and Lynyrd a stern look. "We're supposed to be guarding her with our lives, not spooking the shit out of her. It took a lot of convincing on my part to convince her to come with me after…" He paused for a sigh. "...after she found out we're gangsters. So I don't want her running off because of you guys acting like idiots around her."

Fugo pointed at Lynyrd and Mila, who miraculously remained silent. "I have a feeling neither of you wants to explain to Polnareff or Mista of your behavior around the person we're supposed to be treating like a VIP. And frankly, I don't want to have to explain that shit either."

Labrys was glad Fugo was with her. Gangster or not, he was the only sane person around, and was actively sticking up for her in front of the far more idiosyncratic company he kept.

Lynyrd rubbed his wing. "Apologies. I can't help myself when I have something new to learn. You know how it is with me."

"Yeah, sorry boss-man," Mila said. Even she sounded genuine in her apology, which Labrys didn't think possible for a woman of her nature, regardless of her likeliness to Unit #024. "I'll keep it cool."

"Good," Fugo fixed his tie. "Now with that out of the way, I promised Labrys here I'd take her to the Ponte della Liberta, so we have no time to waste."

Lynyrd flew off Mila's shoulder and landed back on his chair. His mohawk extended. "The Ponte della Liberta? Why there?"

"She's having trouble remembering what happened to her. We're hoping returning to the spot will jostle some memories back, to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding the circumstances of how she's landed in our care."

"Ah, I see," Lynyrd pointed a feather like a finger towards a hallway that led to the back entrance of the cafe. "In that case, you might want to go get the new kid, Tiramisu. He's with the car. Said he wants to be ready to leave when you arrive."

"Alright thanks," Fugo replied. "I'll tell him to bring it out front."

Fugo sheathed his hands into his pocket and made his way towards the hallway. He stopped to look at Labrys, Lynyrd, and then Mila.

"In the meantime, you three can get acquainted with each other," He said with a sly grin. "After all, we're all going to be sticking together for a while."

He disappeared through the back entrance, leaving Labrys to fend for herself in the company of an eccentric talking bird and a foul-mouthed, distorted mirror image of the first friend she ever had.

* * *

The car was easy to find enough. It was a red Fiat 500L, the only car parked behind the alleyway in the cafe. Most people, when thinking of cars that gangsters drove around in, only tended to think of fancy sports and luxury cars thanks to popular culture, which made an unassuming hatchback like a 500L the perfect vehicle for actual gangsters to move around in without wanting to be detected. And it was a good thing too that the cafe, like a large number of businesses throughout Venice, was controlled indirectly by Passione as a meeting place for members and affiliates. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to park there since it was normally reserved for supply offloading, and Mila wouldn't have gotten away with her outburst as easily.

While it was true Venice was a city of boats, there were some areas that required travel by car. The Ponte della Liberta happened to be one of them, being the link to the mainland.

Even from afar, Fugo could pick out the back of Tiramisu's bright orange haircut, as well as see his arm sticking lazily out of the rolled down driver's side window.

"Hey Tiramisu...how's it going?" Fugo said as he approached the car.

No response.

Odd, but not too out of the ordinary. The kid joined Fugo's group only about a week ago and was relatively shy for a Passione operative. It wasn't unreasonable to think he might've been a bit on the anxious side given it was his first time on a mission given directly from Passione's number two.

"Tiramisu, I brought the person we're supposed to protect. She's with Mila and Lynyrd…"

Again, no answer. Not even a grunt of acknowledgement.

From where he was standing, Fugo could see Tiramisu leaning on the driver's seat. He couldn't see his face, but could tell he was doing nothing but staring forward.

"Tiramisu...what the hell is wrong with you?" Fugo said with a slightly irritated tone.

He quickly walked to the fiat's driver side...and saw that Tiramisu was dead.

He had died with his eyes and mouth stretched wide open in terror. A dark bullet hole was tucked between his eyes, the line of blood it left trailing a straight path down to the tip of his nose. The smell of gunpowder filled the insides of the car.

Fugo immediately stepped back. He was horrified, but didn't panic at the sight of the corpse. Only civilians and lesser gang members would panic over a body, not a made man of Passione. Instead, he became alert to every little detail in his surroundings, his mind already analyzing the situation before him.

"Fuck..."

The gangster warily inched forward to study Tiramisu's corpse. He noticed something was clutched in boy's right hand, resting on the passenger's seat. He peered through the window to get a better look, trying his best to not touch the corpse or linger near the smell, and saw that Tiramisu had died with his hand around his own gun. A beretta with a long, cylindrical silencer.

That wasn't the only thing Fugo noticed.

Etched across the side of the arm that held the gun was a tattoo. Fugo was familiar with the boy's angel wing tattoos on his neck, but he had never seen one on his arm before. In fact, he was certain that before today, the boy had no tattoos on his arm, unless he only got it this morning. The tattoo itself was remarkably simple compared to Tiramisu's other one, appearing as a phrase written in standard Comic Sans font, enclosed by brackets. However, once Fugo read what the phrase was, he felt a chill down his spine.

 **「** **SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE HEAD, BETWEEN THE EYES, WITH YOUR GUN, WITH SILENCER ON** **」**

The tattoo would have stuck out, even to a normal person. To a Stand-user like Fugo, the alarms were already going off his head. An alarm that became louder as he made the connection between the tattoo and the gun in Tiramisu's grip.

The gangster swallowed. He retreated, his back hitting the wall.

This wasn't a normal assassination. This was a Stand attack.

"Son of a bitch! The **「** enemy **」** that's after Labrys! They're _already_ here!"

A voice called out from above, forcing Fugo to stiffen.

" _Labrys eh? So that's her name. Thanks for confirming that she's indeed the one I'm looking for!"_

Fugo looked up and saw nothing. His eyes then darted around to the rest of the alleyway, frantically searching for the signs of the speaker. He can hear his own heart beat like a drum as a bead of sweat trickled down his brow.

 _That bastard...he's still in the alley!_

" _Before you ask human, that asshole attacked me first. It was self defense on my part…_ "

A hyena-like cackle echoed throughout the alley. Fugo tried to pinpoint its source but couldn't. It was as if the direction of the voice was switching on the fly.

" _I technically didn't even kill him! He shot himself! I just gave him a little nudge...with my_ **「** _ability_ **」** _of course. Poor bastard never had a chance._ "

Fugo clenched his teeth. His hand slowly went to his pocket, where his phone was sitting.

 _I have to tell Mila and Lynyrd to take Labrys out of here! I have to-"_

Something long and wet tightened around Fugo's neck like a noose, having escaped his notice.

"Gack!" Fugo was slammed against the wall by the tendril, dropping onto his rear. He grabbed at what ensnared him, his hand becoming drenched in...saliva? His eyes widened as he got a better look at the serpentine, black fleshy thing squirming between his fingers.

 _What...what the hell is this thing?_

A large shape blurred above him, landing onto the roof of the Fiat, denting the hood under its weight. Of Tiramisu, only his arm was left visible, sticking out between the crushed roof and the door, his flesh covered in bloodied cuts and sharp fragments of glass.

"Now now...you think I didn't see you reaching for something in your pocket?"

The voice came from the creature perched on the car on all fours. A hideously surreal humanoid with a sleek, thinly muscular, masculine yet sexless build, its pink skin covered in vertical black stripes almost like a zebra's. Its face had no features except for a red-lipped mouth filled with tiny sharp teeth, with a long black tongue extending out between them. A tongue that Fugo noticed was the thing wrapped around his neck.

"I may not have eyes on the front of my face like you humans, but I ain't fucking blind!" The creature spoke, its extended tongue somehow not causing it to slur its words. "As if I'd let you call for help!"

Fugo winced as the tongue constricted. His windpipe was being squeezed, but he found the strength to stare the creature in its nonexistent eyes.

"Who...who the fuck are you?"

The creature's lips visibly curled. "Who the fuck am I? I'm just the one whose gonna take care of that horrible metal abomination that's been following you around like a lovebird. That _creature_ you call Labrys."

It spoke Labrys's name with clear venom. It raised a hand, pointing a clawed finger towards Fugo. "However...after seeing you here...the fucker that punched me in the goddamn face…I couldn't possibly let this opportunity slip!"

Fugo's eyes lit up. He remembered back to the Greaser-wannabe that tried to make moves on Labrys and recalled how his mop top was the same coloration as the creature's flesh.

"You...you're…"

The creature began to giggle. It cracked the joints on one of its clawed hands. "As you humans like to say...payback's a _bitch_."

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

So here it is, another chapter up.

This marks the first time we're introduced to Fugo's crew...and also the first time I've ever created OCs that were on the good guy side. I made the decision after realizing that it'd make sense for Fugo to have his own gang now that he was a capo. I also realized I couldn't shoehorn in Mista or the like as part of the main group, namely because a high ranking mafioso wouldn't be doing bodyguarding work with a capo that was technically levels below him, so I had to come up with some new characters to fill the slots. Now, this doesn't mean that Mista or more characters from the actual franchises won't show up down the line. This is just the initial group, which is why they're so small.

As for the OCs themselves, I wanted to create Stand-users that were outright bizarre, stretching the limits of what a Stand-user can be but while (hopefully) feeling like something that could reasonably happen in the Jojo-verse. They also have some Persona tropes thrown in, with Lynyrd Skynyrd, the sentient talking cockatoo, influenced by Teddie and Morgana, quirky talking non-humans that could be picked out easily from the main cast line-up for how distinct they are. Then we have Mila Schon, a hot-blooded Italian woman named after a famous Italian fashion designer, who has an appearance modeled after a certain someone in Labrys's past (those of you who have played through Labrys's story mode in Persona 4 Arena might recognize her). The only other thing I'll say about these guys is that they demonstrate their Stand abilities in blink-it-or-miss moments throughout this chapter. See if you can guess what they are. ;)

And of course, we have Born Slippy claiming his first victim. Rest in pieces Tiramisu.

Anyways, I think I have tooted my own horn long enough, so I'm going to end my incoherent babbling here.

Hope you guys will enjoy this chapter! As always, any feedback is appreciated.

Best,  
Beef


	5. Born Slippy Attacks Part 1

**Announcement: I will be going on a hiatus from around the middle of January to the end of February, along with a second hiatus for the month of April. The reason why is because of work commitments. Basically, my job has what people typically call "busy seasons" where due to tight deadlines and too much crap to do in a very short period of time, my life will be devoted to nothing but work during those aforementioned periods. However, those periods were already "planned" to be busy, and I plan to pick right up between the hiatuses as well as afterwards when I have much more free time, and I might potentially *might* squeeze out another chapter before then (perhaps by next weekend), given the first busy season won't begin until after next week. I also don't want to rush chapters, as I can be prone to making a lot of mistakes when I do, and I want to write when my mind is really into it, which is definitely not happening during those work deadline commitments.**

 **Thanks for your understanding,**

 **Beef**

* * *

 **Chapter Five - Born Slippy Attacks Part 1**

The creature's tongue tightened around Fugo's windpipe, forcing a wheeze out of him as he struggled to cling onto whatever breath he can latch onto. If he wasn't going to do something soon, he was done for...and Labrys would soon follow.

He lashed out his right fist out at the tongue. Seconds before the blow landed, Purple Haze's hand flickered into existence, transposed over his own. The Stand's fist hit the tongue along with that of its master's, causing it to vibrate like a plucked string instead of snapping under their combined strength, a testament to its unnatural durability. But the punch wasn't mean to sever the tongue. It was meant to crack one of the yellow bulbs on the back of Purple Haze's hand.

The virus erupted outwards from the broken capsule, forming a cloud that corroded the part of the tongue it touched, instantly rotting that section to nothing.

"Aaaagh!" The creature howled. Its tongue, severed right where the virus had struck, snapped back into its mouth. It covered its mouth and dropped onto its back, rolling around the Fiat's crushed roof while cries of torturous pain leaked through its fingers.

Fugo immediately rolled out of the way, increasing the distance between him and the viral cloud before his own virus got to him. The shredded remnants of the creature's tongue around his neck hung like a moist, squishy tie. He was quick to toss the mutilated appendage off of him, which flopped across the wet pavement like a wet noodle. Its severed end leaked blood that resembled black oil, forming a black pool around it.

Fugo stared at the tongue. And then at his own saliva-drenched hands as something dawned on him.

 _What the hell...I was able to touch it's tongue with my own hands! And it's bleeding...like a living thing! This...this ain't a normal Stand I'm dealing with!_

The capo had mistakenly thought his opponent was just a basic Automatic Stand, a troublesome category of Stand that was completely autonomous from the user. Instead, whatever the monster was, it seemed to be a sub-category of Automatic Stand that were so rare and unheard of, its group didn't even have a name. Stands like Baby Face and Silver Chariot Requiem, which were like completely biological organisms in their own right, capable of being touched and seen by even regular humans without Stands. He wouldn't have believed such Stands existed if he didn't hear about them from Giorno and Polnareff through recounts of their personal encounters, and this was his first time seeing one for himself.

Unless it was something else entirely...a thought that made Fugo nervous.

"Y-you bastard!" The creature yelled, rearing up on two legs, holding its hands near its mouth. A bloody stump could be seen through its teeth, leaking streams of oil-blood down its chin. "Wh-what weird weapon did you use on me!?"

Fugo noticed its words still wasn't slurred, despite its damaged tongue. Speaking of which, the wound on its tongue already stopped bleeding, with what looked like a membranous mass shaped like the tip of a new tongue growing out of the stump.

 _Damn it...it can regenerate too? Of all the bullshit-_

Worse than that, it seems that when he severed the tongue, he also prevented the virus from reaching the rest of the creature, for its body showed no symptoms of infection. And even if he were to land a fatal blow on the Stand, he knew the user would be completely fine given the nature of Automatic Stands, leaving ample opportunities for a follow-up ambush. He was going to have to find a way to track the bastard down and finish him for good, and that was assuming it _was_ a Stand.

Fugo stood at the ready. Purple Haze's arm clipped over his own, ready to be drawn like a gunslinger's revolver. He had five viral capsules left, counting the three on his Stand's other arm, and it was going to take a while to grow back the one already spent.

"Alright you bastard," Fugo growled, his eyes darkened by shadows. "You want to play?"

Purple Haze materialized behind him in full, baring its teeth beneath its lip stitches. It stood behind the capo like an ethereal bodyguard, growling like an attack dog. The shadows lifted from Fugo face as he glared at the creature, his blue eyes sparking with an intense fury. He pointed defiantly at his opponent.

"Let's play asshole!"

The creature paused. It didn't seem to care about the pain of its severed tongue anymore as it curiously cocked its head at the sight of Fugo's Stand, as if recognizing a kindred spirit. A weird reaction for a Stand, even an Automatic one.

"You...you're a Stand-user..."

"Yeah? Shocking ain't it asshole?" Fugo replied. "You chose the wrong fucking gangster to fuck with, you-"

He stopped as the creature suddenly bowed on all fours. Its head hanging low to reveal the blue, bony mask fused to the back of its head. The mask stared at Fugo from upside down, with eye sockets filled with yellow eyes covered in lines. The type of eyes he'd seen on countless Stands.

The sockets blinked.

"Forgive me, I didn't realize you were a Stand-user, human," The creature whispered, its mocking tone changing to one of respect. The mask's frowning mouth moved with each syllable, indicating perhaps that it was the mask that was speaking the whole time, which explained why the creature's words never slurred despite its tongue being injured. "I had mistakenly thought the scent of the **「** Arrow **」** on you was a residual scent from being in close proximity with the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon and the Arrow inside her."

The creature pointed at the eyes inside its mask. "Even so, those eyes on that creature behind you...I can tell its a Stand even without having to pick up on its scent...because they're exactly like mine!"

It lowered its head even further and brought its hands closer together, hunching its back to take on the posture that a Japanese feudal peasant would assume in the presence of a member of the samurai nobility.

"What are the hell are you doing?" Fugo said. He warily kept his Stand by his side. He didn't know what kind of mind games the bastard was playing at, but he wanted to be ready for any tricks it was going to pull.

" **「** Il Mietitore **」** made a **「** truce **」** with certain members of your people," The creature explained calmly. "Because of that truce, I'm forbidden to harm any Stand-user, fellow **「** children of the Arrow **」**...without an acceptable reason."

It lifted its head, the wide grin on its main face shrunken into a thin, nervous grimace. "As a result of my unwarranted transgressions...I will accept my punishment."

Fugo blinked. "What?"

The creature lowered its head again, the sockets of its mask closed into narrow slits. It didn't move, didn't show any signs of aggression. It was making itself completely open on purpose.

This was a first in Fugo's years of dealing with enemy Stand users. A Stand that just gave up the fight, making him _seriously_ doubt it was one at all. He didn't believe it. It _had_ to be a trap.

"Are…are you serious?" Fugo asked.

"Yes," The creature murmured. "I, Born Slippy, on my honor as a Shadow Human, will take any punishment you deem to give me."

Over the course of the fight, Fugo already had a growing hunch that it wasn't a Stand. Now he had confirmation of the fact, straight from one of the creature's mouths. Only problem was, he had never heard of the term "Shadow Human" before, and the idea that his enemy wasn't a Stand was worse news than if it had been one. There was nothing worse than dealing with an opponent that he had no prior knowledge on.

"A Shadow Human? The hell is that?"

Born Slippy offered no answer. It continued to bow silently, waiting patiently for Fugo's "punishment".

"Tch," Fugo realized it was a dumb idea to try to ask the creature what it was, but at least he tried. With a thought, he made Purple Haze vanish. "So you're really not going to attack? Not even going to put up a fight or defend yourself?"

The Shadow Human refused to move from his position. Fugo let out a sigh.

"Frankly, I don't care what you are. Attacking an opponent that refuses to fight back just doesn't sit well with me…so I'm not going to 'punish' you, or whatever it is you want..."

The capo slipped his hands in his pocket and made a feign of walking away. Born Slippy looked up...just in time to see Purple Haze appearing only inches in front of it. The Shadow Human visibly bristled from the Stand blinking into existence so close to it.

Fugo glanced over his shoulder to stare at the creature once more, this time with a burning fury in his eyes. "That is what I _would_ be saying...if I didn't know that you were after Labrys...and I haven't forgotten what you did to Tiramisu either, you son of a _bitch_!"

Purple Haze snarled and hurled its left fist towards Born Slippy.

Born Slippy moved fast, catching the fist with a hand, its fingers slipping between the bulbs.

"Hold on a minute..." The creature whispered.

Fugo mentally let out a curse. The bastard was _strong_. He could feel the tightening of the creature's grip on his own knuckles, his skin creasing into the imprint of the Shadow Human's fingers as the Stand's sensations transferred to him.

"Did you just say Labrys? The Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon," Born Slippy cocked its head. "The way you spoke her name...its as if she was something precious to you. And I didn't think of this much at first...but you punched me earlier because I got close to her."

Born Slippy's wide smile returned. Its tongue slipped out of its mouth, fully regrown as if it had never been severed by the virus at all.

"You're protecting her, aren't you?"

Fugo only hissed in response, as the creature's grip tightened. Born Slippy's smile widened, until its corners nearly reached where its ears would have been if it had any.

"Because if you're protecting her, the greatest enemy to our race, then you've overstepped the truce! Which means...I can kill you without fear of repercussion! If anything, Il Mietitore would encourage it if he knew you were guarding her!"

The beast let out a gleeful laugh. "Gehehehe! I rescind all of that shit I said earlier! The idea of bowing down to a little shit like you makes me sick to my stomach anyway, so I'm absolutely ecstatic that I found an _acceptable reason_ to end your pitiful existence!"

"Purple Haze!" Fugo shouted. Purple Haze reacted on its user's impulses, immediately launching a swift hook with its right, freed arm. A hook that wasn't swift enough, as it was quickly intercepted by Born Slippy's tongue coiling around its wrist like an octopus's tentacle, stopping it only inches away from its grinning face.

"Gehehe...so fucking slow! You couldn't even hit a snail with that lousy speed of yours!"

It opened its mouth to let out a series of loud guffaws. "Gehehehehehe!"

A single thought crossed Fugo's mind as he stared down the creature's throat. _Good...keep that mouth open_.

One of the capsules from Purple Haze's right hand came loose, launching itself towards Born Slippy's gaping maw. The Shadow Human realized too late and ended up swallowing the yellow orb by accident. The muffled sound of the capsule breaking inside its throat was followed by a blood curdling scream.

"Gaaagghh!" The creature's howl of pain became a gurgle halfway as the virus unleashed itself onto the inner linings of its esophagus. It let go of Purple Haze's arms. Fugo saw an opening, willing his Stand to lash out with both of its freed fists.

" **UBASHAAAAAAAA~!** "

The Shadow Human still proved to be far too fast despite the virus unleashing havoc on its insides, leaping out of the way before any of the blows could land. It landed on the alley wall, sticking to it like a gecko. With its feet still anchored to the flat surface of the wall, it grabbed at its throat. Its lips and neck became dotted with splotches.

It hissed and snarled at Fugo, no longer making anything like words.

"Tastes good, doesn't it?" Fugo said with a mocking tone. Purple Haze raised its fists. "If you want, I can give you seconds."

The creature released its hands from its throat, right as the cartilage on the sides of its mouth decayed to nothing. Its lower jaw unhinged and detached, falling to the pavement below as a bloody heap of infected, rotted skin and teeth. Its face contorted into what looked like a bottomless scream. It began to convulse violently as its hold on the wall weakened, causing it to tumble to the ground from a height that would've broken bones. It spasmed and rolled across the ground, flailing wildly like an overturned crab. Seeing the beast succumb to the worst of his virus almost made he Fugo feel sorry for it.

Oh, who was he kidding? He wasn't sorry at all! If anything...seeing the slimeball in pain was making him even happier.

"Let that be a lesson for you..." Fugo smirked. "Don't fuck with me."

The creature's chest suddenly heaved. It hacked out a tiny object through the bloody hole in its throat where its lower jaw used to be. The object glinted underneath the sunlight and bounced across the ground with a metallic tang, landing right at Fugo's feet.

The capo tensed as he saw what the object was. A tiny pink hairpin, taking the shape of a cat. The same hairpin that Mr. Moschino showed him just outside the cafe, the one belonging to his daughter that went missing a week ago.

As a capo, he knew better than to let his raw emotions get the better of him. His trembling fists were evidence that letting his feelings just that.

He paced slowly towards Born Slippy like a slasher closing in on his victim, the creature becoming perfectly still as Fugo's shadow fell over it. The stare he was giving the beast could have stopped bullets.

"Why...why was that hairpin inside you?"

The Shadow Human gargled. Fugo kicked its side with Purple Haze's foot, causing it to twist and shout in pain.

"I know you can talk perfectly fine with that second face you have on the back of your head, so I won't ask again," Fugo snarled, his fists clenching so tight that he could feel the nails dig into his palm. " _Why._..was that hairpin _inside_ you?"

Born Slippy ceased shaking. Its neck twisted completely around like an owl's, showing its mask. Its were contorted into an expression of pure fear. It spoke in a hushed murmur. "All Persona-users must die."

Fugo glared at the creature. "What?"

"The girl...she was a Persona-user," Born Slippy wheezed as it spoke. "Since...since she was in my territory, it fell on my shoulders to **「** eliminate **」** her before she became a _real_ problem."

Fugo tightened. "What...what did you do to her?"

The tips of the mask's frowning mouth began to curve upwards.

"She...like all the young ones...couldn't summon her Persona out in _this_ world. Killing her was easy enough...I just ambushed at night...right in her room! Getting rid of the body was the hard part…"

A malicious grin broke out across the mask. A second tongue, more human-sized than the one in its other mouth, slipped through. "Rerorerorero...I won't bore you with the _details_...but let's just say she tasted like the best _carpaccio_ I ever had!"

Something inside Fugo snapped. The uncontrollable anger that dominated his youth, an anger that he thought he would seldom feel again, returned in full force.

"Purple Haze! Leave _nothing_ of this piece of shit left in this world!"

Purple Haze let out a furious roar. It brought its right fist, with one viral capsule remaining, downward towards Born Slippy's smug face.

The mask opened its mouth wide.

" **「** **STOP** **」**!"

The words of the Shadow Human reverberated with a power that wasn't there before. And right as it spoke, a white, cloud-like mass erupted out from its mouth.

"What...what the fuck?" Fugo said in shock as the cloud blocked his Stand's punch.

He saw writing on the cloud's surface. Writing in Comic Sans font, enclosed by brackets and spelling out a single word:

 **「** **STOP** **」**

It took a moment for Fugo to notice the wispy tail trailing at the end of the cloud, its end still inside Born Slippy's lips.

 _This thing...it looks like a speech bubble. Like something lifted straight out of a comic book panel!_

"You Stand-users aren't the only one with **「** abilities **」** you know…"

Born Slippy slipped away and stood up on two legs. Its head snapped back so its main face was facing Fugo...revealing to the capo's chagrin that its lower jaw had grown back anew, completely bereft of even the tiniest traces of scar tissue. It placed a hand on its hips, striking a flamboyant pose that made its humanoid, masculine shape more apparent. Its lips shortened, its tongue retracting as it took on a more serious demeanor.

"This is my **「** Skill **」**...it's called **「** Little Speaker **」**."

Fugo gritted his teeth. The Shadow Human was no worse for wear, despite _swallowing_ his Stand's virus.

 _Son of a bitch. It's regenerative powers are even better than I feared. It managed was able to survive just long enough for the virus to run its course!_

The capo wiped a bead of sweat from his chin. _I've...I've never fought a guy that can withstand Purple Haze's virus like that! Just what the hell are these things?_

Born Slippy stared at its fingers as it rubbed them.

"It seems your Stand attacks with some sort of virus in those capsules. Too bad the shelf life of _said_ virus is too short to overwhelm the natural regenerative abilities of my people..."

The Shadow Human's tongue slithered back out. It hunched its back and hooked its fingers into claws, bending its back in a reptilian gesture. "Besides...you completely missed my **「** vital area **」**. I can see how a virus like that can devastate a regular human opponent...but its only a temporary inconvenience for the likes of me!"

Fugo pointed at Born Slippy. "Purple Haze!"

The capo's Stand bellowed. It pushed its fist through the speech bubble, its strength tearing it to shreds and causing it to split into chunks that dissipated into nothingness. It lunged at Born Slippy with the same fist cocked...only to stop abruptly in its tracks.

Fugo froze. Not from fear or anything like that...he literally felt his muscles lock up. He couldn't budge.

 _What the hell is this? Why can't I move!?_

"You idiot...didn't you remember that I told you to **「** stop **」**?" Born Slippy casually stepped outside of the trajectory of Purple Haze's stalled punch. It pointed at its arm. "Can't you read?"

Fugo looked to Purple Haze's arm. Across it was a tattoo, like the one he saw on Tiramisu.

Only he realized it wasn't a tattoo. It was the letters from the speech bubble Purple Haze destroyed, having flown off and attached themselves to its arm to spell out the same word: **STOP**.

"Still don't get it human? Fine I'll explain. **「** Little Speaker **」** grants me the ability to force others to do what is written on the **「** speech bubbles **」** that they touch. And since you touched a speech bubble with the word **「** stop **」** on it, then you _have_ to stop! Gehehehehehehehe!"

Fugo growled through his teeth. "This...this is how you killed Tiramisu. You made him shoot himself with his own gun...by using one of your speech bubbles!"

Born Slippy giggled and clapped. "Ha! How very astute!"

It struck its hips out in an extravagant manner and jabbed a finger towards Fugo. "I've always heard I had a big mouth as a Shadow, so its pretty fitting I can now use it to kill humans so effortlessly!"

It fanned its arms wide and cackled madly. "And now...I'm going to use the same ability to end your life! Gehehehehe-"

The door behind the Shadow Human slammed open. Fugo peered past the creature and saw one of the cafe's barista standing in the doorway.

"Hey Mr. Fugo...is everything alright? I heard a commotion and-"

The barista's eyes fell upon Born Slippy. His eyes and mouth went agape at the sight of the creature.

Fugo's breath halted. _Oh crap. Just as I thought...the barista isn't a Stand user...but he can see that monster too!_

The barista screamed. "Aaaagh! What the hell is that thing?!"

Born Slippy didn't turn around to face the barista, but Fugo could see it lick its lips.

"Run!" The capo yelled as loud he could. "Get the hell out of here!"

The warning came too little, too late. Born Slippy angled its head back. Its tongue shot out like a dart, impaling the man through the top of his skull. The barista died before he could finish his scream, his corpse dangling on the Shadow Human's tongue like a bait on a hook.

"Damn!" Fugo cursed.

It was then he noticed that, although Purple Haze can't move, its arm was already aimed directly at Born Slippy.

"Purple Haze! Launch your capsule!"

The sole remaining viral capsule on Purple Haze's right launched forward like a gas-propelled bullet, heading towards Born Slippy. The Shadow Human was quick to notice, whipping its tongue around, bringing the barista's body right into the trajectory of the capsule burst upon the corpse instead of its intended target, shielding the monster completely from the viral cloud that erupted from it.

"Oh my...that was close! Looks like you found a workaround to my speech bubble command! But it's not going to do you any good!"

With a quick snap of its head, Born Slippy threw the corpse off its tongue. It flew over Purple Haze, careening towards Fugo.

"Oh cra-"

The corpse smacked into Fugo, sending him tumbling to the ground. The Shadow Human's spell must have been broken, because he could move again. He shoved the body off of him as fast as he could, but it was too late. He felt a burning in his hands, which he saw already was beginning to show symptoms of boils and sores.

 _Damn it! I got infected by the corpse!_

Fugo looked to the barista. He died with his face permanently twisted into an expression of open mouthed terror as he slowly dissolved, though he was lucky that he died quickly before he felt the pain of having his flesh eaten away. The capo knew that if he waited for the virus inside him to dissipate or be disinfected by the sunlight, he soon too would become a mass of goop barely recognizable as a human being. He wasn't about to let that happen to him. He held his boil covered hands to Purple Haze.

"Purple Haze! Get rid of this virus!"

The Stand vanished, appearing besides Fugo. It raised its arm, revealing the writing to be gone, and cracked one of the capsules on its left hand right over his infected hands. The virus cloud came out, seeping into Fugo's flesh. He winced as he felt the burning worsen as the virus spread...to the point where each individual virus was beginning to devour each other.

Had he never unlocked Purple Haze's Distortion ability, he might as well have been dead. With Distortion, the viruses produced by his Stand were now more potent than they ever had been...so potent that they would devour other viruses of the same type, effectively cancelling each other and thereby instantly sterilizing the infected area. That was one of the few good things to come out of the fight with Massimo Volpe and his Narcotics Team, beyond of course his re-initiation into the gang.

However, it was far from a perfect solution to accidental self-infection. The virus was soon gone from the capo, but the damage was already done. His hand was reduced to bloody tatters, and he had lost all feeling to his fingers. A modest price to pay for avoiding a gruesome death.

Fugo ignored the state of his hands and stood up, willing Purple Haze to vanish. He turned his head towards to the spot where Born Slippy had been, to see that the creature had disappeared in the commotion. Only a bloody spot remained right over where it had impaled the barista, but otherwise it had left no traces of where it went.

"Oh fuck..." Fugo cursed. That wasn't good.

* * *

"So, Fugo told you who we were right? That we're gangsters?"

Labrys nodded at Mila. It felt surreal to be sitting at a table with what might as well been Unit #024 from an alternate universe, one where she was reincarnated as a fiery-tempered human woman with a motormouth. More surreal than sitting next to the talking cockatoo.

At least Mila was calmed down considerably. Without her temper out in full display, Labrys felt more at ease in her company.

"You're not afraid of us or anythin'?" Mila smirked.

"No...not really," Labrys replied. "I'm more curious about these Stand things you guys have."

Mila furrowed her brow in a way that made Labrys afraid that she might've said something to offend her. "Hold up...you know about Stands?"

"She can see Stands Mila," Lynyrd chimed in. "But according to Fugo, she claims to not have one."

Mila scrunched her nose at the bird. "That doesn't make any fuckin' sense. How the hell can she see Stands but not have one? That'd be like claimin' to be able to see infrared without the goggles!"

"It's true," Labrys interjected. "I saw Fugo-san's Purple Haze earlier. But I'm pretty certain that's due to my sensors capable of viewing wavelengths beyond the capabilities of normal humans. Coincidentally, that is what allows me to see Stands, I s'pose."

Mila made a perplexed face. "Huh? Was that even in Italian?"

"It means she can see what most other people can't see," Lynyrd said matter-of-factly. "Not too surprising, since she is a robot after all. Perhaps she was designed to see Stands."

"So what? She's like a spy drone for Stand-users?" Mila proceeded to laugh. Then her expression turned unexpectedly serious as she shot a wary glare at Labrys, causing Labrys to sit up in her seat. "Wait a minute... _are_ you a spy drone?"

Without warning, she reached and grabbed Labrys by the cuffs of her jacket. As fast as the gynoid was, the woman's abrupt action and her demeanor flipping on a dime was enough to catch her off-guard.

"Spill the beans! You were made by the government to spy on us Stand-users, weren't you?" Mila inched her face closer to Labrys, who really wished she didn't. "Or...or perhaps you're the vanguard of an alien invasion! I heard rumors of an alien living in someplace called Morioh from Murolo...you're in cahoots with him, aren't you? Tryin' to get all the dirt you can on Stand-users for your extraterrestrial overlords so takin' over the planet becomes easier for em'.. _.right_?"

Labrys was afraid to stare the woman in the eyes. "I...I don't know what you're talkin' about. Please...please let me go."

Lynyrd flapped his wings. "Hey Mila, remember what Fugo said about not scaring away the person we're supposed to be protecting?"

"I'm just sayin' Lynyrd...I've never heard of a robot that can see Stands. And she's pretty fuckin' human-like too! Perfect for blendin' into our society...just like that alien in Morioh!"

The bird rubbed the tip of his beak with his feathers. "Alright Mila...first of all, I'm pretty sure Mr. Murolo is just trying to pull your leg, given _everyone_ in the gang knows how riled up you can get over silly conspiracy theories. Secondly, need I remind you that the order to protect her came from _Polnareff_ himself. We're obligated to follow that order through, regardless of who she is."

Lynyrd scoffed and crossed his wings. "Besides...do you really believe that the head honchos of the gang would want us to protect a spy? There's no way they'd let something like that slip, especially considering this is Mr. Polnareff we're talking about here."

Mila bit her lip. Her shoulders sagged and her grip loosened. "Yeah...I guess you have a point there bird."

She released her hold on Labrys. Her demeanor abruptly changed again as she put on a warm smiled and placed a hand gently on Labrys's shoulder.

"Sorry 'bout that...I just had to make sure," The woman offered her gloved hand to Labrys. "No hard feelin's right?"

Labrys continued to stare wide-eyed at the woman in fearful silence. It took her a few seconds to work up the courage to shake the woman's hand, as her own hand trembled. When they shook, Labrys found that the woman's grip was unusually tight, and her hand felt cold to the touch past the glove.

 _Just...what is with her arm?_

Mila sunk back into her seat, taking a sip of her espresso. With cup in hand, she turned to Labrys once more. "So...mind if I ask ya somethin'?"

"Y-yes?" Labrys replied nervously, not knowing what the strange woman could possibly want from her.

"Are you from the Kansai region in Japan by any chance?"

"Huh?" Labrys raised an eyebrow. "What makes you say that?"

"You keep referrin' to everybody using a Japanese honorific, and I could hear hints of a Kansai accent whenever you do. Just curious is all."

"Oh..." Lynyrd's mohawk feathers perked up. "Isn't the Kansai region where your family was before they moved back to Sicily?"

Labrys wasn't an expert on human mannerisms, but she could see the solemn look on the woman upon hearing Lynyrd's words. There was obviously something that she didn't want to share.

"Um...Mila-san. I don't know how to answer that question," Labrys replied.

Mila raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"My model information says I was made in Yakushima. But it doesn't say anythin' about this Kansai place. And I can't remember anythin' else."

"Huh," Mila stroked her chin. "Interesting..."

She turned away and looked around the cafe, tapping her fingers on the table. Presumably, she was waiting for Fugo and the one called Tiramisu, like everyone else at the table. They sure were taking their sweet time in getting the car ready.

"Hey Mila-san...mind if I ask you somethin'?" Labrys said, feeling slightly more comfortable with talking to the woman.

Mila looked at her. "Sure. What is it?"

Labrys wanted to ask about the arm, but there was a bigger question nagging at her mind ever since she learned from Fugo that a good portion of Passione's membership had Stands.

"I was wonderin'...do you have a Stand too?"

"You guessed it," Mila replied. "It's the only reason why I'm with these freaks."

"Hey!" Lynyrd squawked.

"Mila-san, do you mind if I see it?" Labrys asked.

"Hell no," Mila said flatly.

"Huh?" Labrys frowned. "Why not?"

Mila chuckled. "A Stand is like an asshole, you don't go around showin' it off to just anybody."

Labrys tilted her head. "I'm...I'm sorry. I don't think I quite get what you mean by that."

Mila glowered. "It means I ain't flauntin' off my Stand just cuz you asked, _capisce_?"

Labrys felt a tang of disappointment. She's seen what Fugo's Stand looked like, and had a glimpse of Lynyrd's. She was really curious what Mila's Stand was like, if nothing more than to get a better picture of the group she was dealing with.

"However...if you're absolutely dyin' to know…" Mila grinned, rather mischievously. "Let's just say it's really good on makin' Colombian neckties."

Lynyrd shot a stern look at Mila.

"Neckties?" Labrys said. "Your Stand makes clothing?"

"No...not neckties. _Colombian_ neckties," Mila corrected.

"Oh...what's the difference?" Labrys said innocently.

"I ain't about to explain what a Colombian necktie is," Mila made a dismissive wave. "If you're so curious, look it up whenever you have time...though I wouldn't recommend doin' so if you have a weak stomach."

Against her better judgement, Labrys did just that due to her innate inquisitiveness. She searched up the term "Colombian necktie" within her database and was surprised to see one result back. She had expected it to be some sort of cloth worn around the neck, perhaps something like Fugo's. When she opened the entry and caught a glimpse of the image file it contained...she instantly came to regret it.

 _Oh...oh my God…_

Labrys's artificial cheeks went pale. She felt sick to her stomach, despite not having one. She stood up from her seat, her feet kicking against her axe case she placed beneath the table. She clasped a hand over her mouth, with another clasped in front of her stomach. The knowledge that she was physically incapable of throwing up did little to alleviate the horrifying nausea she felt.

"Hey...you alright?" Mila asked nonchalantly.

"Y-yeah," Labrys mumbled, trying her best to hide her disgust at the macabre image burned into her mind. "I...I just need to go to the bathroom."

"Really? Didn't realize robots needed to do the business," Mila pointed to a pair of stairs that led to the cafe's second floor. "Restroom is upstairs."

Labrys quickly bowed and rushed upstairs as fast as she could. She heard Mila's voice behind her.

"Why you lookin' at me like that, you stupid bird?"

* * *

The upstairs of the cafe was a completely separate dining room, currently devoid of any customers during and with windows that offered glorious views of the Venice waterways surrounding the establishment. One of the windows was cracked open, letting in a faint breeze. Labrys ignored the views, quickly finding her way into the restrooms. She never had to use one before, so she briefly stalled as she noticed there were actually two different doors that led to completely separate restrooms. She had barged into the one with the door labeled "MEN", and, realizing her mistake, she quickly walked into the adjacent one for "WOMEN".

She pulled back her hood and flicked her long ponytail behind her. She turned on the faucet and quickly splashed cold water over her face, which helped alleviate the nauseating feeling. She deleted the entry on "Colombian neckties" as fast as she could, to make sure she never have to see something that awful ever again. Completeness of data be damned, she could still hardly believe that humans can do such a horrible thing to each other.

She knelt over the sink, staring at her drenched face in the mirror, and sighed. She knew gangsters were a violent bunch...but to think that Mila admitted that her Stand was good at making...

Labrys swallowed and shook her head. She plucked a paper towel from a nearby machine to dry her face. Right as she did, she heard the water stop running, despite her not having turned it off.

She looked at the faucet and saw there was indeed no more water coming from it, despite the knob clearly remaining in the same position.

Labrys turned the knob twice. The water still wouldn't come out.

"What is this? Is there somethin' cloggin' the drain?"

She turned the knob once more, then saw something white pop out from beneath the faucet's mouth. It moved like a living thing, pulsating inside the faucet's circular opening.

"Oh, I was right. There is somethin' blockin' it."

Curious, she tapped on the top of the faucet, hoping to push the thing out. With an audible pop, the white object fully deposited itself in the sink, allowing her to get a better look at it. And she could not make heads or tails of the damn thing.

"What the heck is that? A tiny cloud?"

The so-called cloud filled three-fifths of the sink and was perfectly circular with a fuzzy circumference. It had a thin tail partially still inside the faucet. And as if the size and nature of the cloud wasn't weird enough, there was a series of writing on the surface of the cloud's body, done in a unique black font and enclosed by brackets.

 **「** **KILL YOURSELF BY DESTROYING YOUR OWN HEAD** **」**

Labrys scanned the thing and found an interesting result. It was made of the same type of energy that she had sensed on Purple Haze, although in smaller quantities. Her sensors also was quick to inform her that the font was something called Comics Sans, and it had little to no mass like an actual cloud would. Driven by curiosity, she reached forward and tapped the cloud, which jiggled like jello.

"Now this is weird. I ain't an expert on the weather or anythin', but how the hell can a cloud just be stuck inside a faucet-"

The cloud exploded with a loud pop. Labrys recoiled back in surprise, crossing her arms for defense. When the seconds passed and nothing happened, she uncrossed her arms and looked back to the sink. Nothing of the cloud remained, as if it had never been there at all.

"Now ain't that bizarre..." Labrys scratched her head. It was when she did that she saw the letters on her forearm, sticking to her detached sleeves. Letters that spelled out the same phrase that had been on the bubble: **KILL YOURSELF BY DESTROYING YOUR OWN HEAD**.

Alarmed, Labrys tried to scratch the letters off. She couldn't.

"What...what the heck is this!?"

The sound of a stall door creaking open reached her ears. Followed by a voice whispering out from behind. An inhuman voice with a muffled echo.

" _Rerorerorero_... _We finally meet, Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon…_ "

Labrys glanced up, instantly stiffening at the sight of the thing that came into view in the bathroom mirror, seemingly materializing from the shadows themselves as it slowly climbed out of the stall right behind her. An eyeless and noseless humanoid with pink flesh covered in black stripes, the monster was a head taller than her, its red-lipped mouth stretched to a sinister grin. A tendril-shaped dark tongue slithered past its pearly white, sharp teeth.

A warning message scrolled past Labrys's vision as she stared at the creature's reflection.

 **...UNKNOWN HOSTILE ORGANISM DETECTED...**

Had she been human, she might've been frozen in shock for moments longer, leaving herself open to attack. Instead, her instincts took control of her body, forcing her to whirl around with her fist curled tight, her chain knuckle already primed and ready to fire as she raised it towards the creature before it could take a step closer to her.

"Gehehehe...don't bother," It whispered, licking its teeth.

Just as Labrys thought about firing off her chain knuckle, her arm abruptly bent backward against her will, aiming itself at Labrys's face. Her eyes widened in alarm as she stared her own fist. Even more distressing was the clicking she felt inside her forearm.

 _Oh...oh crap! My chain knuckle...its activatin' on its own!_

The creature snickered. "It's useless to put up any sort of fight...because you're already dead!"

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Hello again and welcome to another chapter of A Spirited Gang-Star, where we get the start of our first real fight. This took me longer than expected to pump out because I spent more time editing this than my other chapters. Not much else to say other than that it feels fun to write fights with Jojo-style bullshit and shenanigans again, which I probably missed the most during my prolonged absence from this site.

As always, any comments or feedback is appreciated.

Best,  
Beef


	6. Born Slippy Attacks Part 2

**Chapter Six - Born Slippy Attacks Part 2**

Whoever her creators were, Labrys was grateful for them having the smarts to give her lightning fast reflexes. Her head bobbed out of the way right as her possessed fist launched towards her. Shards of glass exploded around her as her fist collided into the mirror behind her instead of its intended target.

The creature recoiled back. "Shit-"

The gynoid didn't give her inhuman opponent a chance to react. With her other hand, she yanked the sink behind her right out of the wall and swung at the beast, bashing it in the head.

"Gaaack!"

Blood and plaster flew from the creature's head as it stumbled back, crying in pain. It lost its balance and toppled into the stall behind it, its weight taking the door off its hinges.

Labrys let the smashed half of the sink drop from her hand. She wiped at her chin, her mind racing, scrambling to make sense of what the hell had just tried to attack her.

"Don't know who...or _what_...you are pal," The gynoid growled. "But I ain't losin' to a freak like you-"

The words got caught in her throat as the creature let out a giggle.

"Gehehehe…"

It rose up onto its feet at a perfect angle as if possessed. It scratched at its head, loosening pieces of sink along with its flesh. Blood leaked down across its smiling lips, staining its white teeth.

Labrys let out a silent internal curse. She immediately scanned the creature, who seemingly was immune to cranial hemorrhaging. Her sensors was quick to point out its physical mass and irregular bio-electrical readings, and the fact that it was only partially organic. Most of it was formed from energy...the same energy as Purple Haze and the speech bubble.

Wait…no, that wasn't right. Her scan told her that the energy wavelength was different from Purple Haze's readings by about roughly 2%. A small difference on paper, but could mean a world of difference in reality. After all, it was the same percentage of difference between the DNA of humans and chimpanzees as the computer in her brain was quick to point out. Whatever the long-tongued monster was, it was a close relative of Stands, yet had enough nuances to be considered part of a completely separate type of entity.

Labrys clenched her fist. "What...what the heck are you?"

The creature chortled, tapping its chest with its clawed hands. "The name is Born Slippy…" It turned its point towards Labrys. "And I'm here to collect the bounty on your head!"

"A bounty...on my head?" Labrys blinked. "What the hell are you yammerin' on about?"

"You don't need to know Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon!" The creature growled. "Because I'm going to finish you off in the next _ten_ seconds!"

"Tch," Labrys straightened her posture. Her extended arm, still braced against the broken mirror, grabbed ahold of a stray shard. It retracted back with the shard brandished like a knife. Without her axe, it would have to do. "If you're lookin' to fight me monster...it ain't my fault then if you end up cryin'!"

Born Slippy regarded the robot curiously for a moment before letting out a snicker. "Actually, I take back what I said. It won't be _me_ that's going to finish you off…"

"What? What the hell are ya-"

Labrys paused as she felt a prickling in her cheek. Her eye fell downwards and saw that she was cutting into her own synthetic cheek with the glass shard in her hand.

 _Wha...what the hell!?_

Stunned, her back bent against the mirror's frame. Her possessed arm exerted more pressure on the glass against her cheek, enough to force the glass into her durable flesh when it wouldn't have otherwise. She braced the palm of her other arm against the possessed arm's wrist, struggling to prevent it from pushing the shard any further, which was getting dangerously close to her vulnerable eyes. In that brief moment, as she struggled against her own limb, she regretted that she was built with such strength.

 _Damn it...this hand's gone bad!_

Born Slippy cackled. "Like I said, it isn't me who's going to finish you off...it's _you_! While under the spell of my **「** Little Speaker **」**...I don't even have to lift a finger to kill you, you glorified toaster!"

Born Slippy cackled madly, but the gynoid ignored it. Her mind through millions of permutations a second, attempting to find a solution out of her predicament. She had to do something fast, for she had the worrisome revelation that the possessed arm was somehow _stronger_ than how she was normally. She could feel the glass dig just a fraction of an inch deeper, causing a trail of oil to trickle down to her chin, the stinging causing her to wince. If she didn't do something, she was going to end up peeling her own face off.

Her eyes went to the words across her forearm, which she was able to read out of the peripherals of her vision.

 **「** **KILL YOURSELF BY DESTROYING YOUR OWN HEAD** **」**

She put two and two together and realized she had already fallen into the creature's trap.

 _Damn it...I knew there was somethin' funky with these words! They're commandin' my body to move against my will!_

"Gehehe! It's no use Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon!" The creature said. "Once you've touched a speech bubble left by Little Speaker, you're body can't help but move on its own! So just hurry up and destroy your own head already!"

Labrys refused the creature's commands, refused to have it all end here in a random bathroom tucked in an obscure corner of an unfamiliar country. Out of desperation, her mind hatched an idea, one that she wasn't entirely sure would work.

 _Damn it...it's a stretch...but I've got nothin' to lose!_

She quickly pulled up her language settings...and switched out her current module with another. Her assailant, none the wiser, rested its arm on its elbow and scratched its cheek nonchalantly. "Oi, oi, oi...this is taking far too longer than I have expected."

It grinned, its teeth glinting. Then it charged towards Labrys, its claws outstretched, its tongue trailing behind it as it charged her.

"Guess I'll have to finish you myself after all!" The monster screeched.

Labrys's eyes narrowed as she pulled the glass from her cheek. The creature raised its claws at her, but she struck out before it could, launching out her chain knuckle from her possessed arm...now fully under her control again. It collided into the beast's face, sending it flying back with a strange cry.

"Haba~!" The creature crashed into the far wall, splintering a chunk off of it.

Labrys let out a sigh of relief. She moved her arm, feeling every flex of its fingers as it was no longer under the supernatural spell that had claimed it. The reason was simple: when she looked at the writing across her forearm, she found that she could no longer read it.

Born Slippy jumped back onto its feet. Its prominent red lips were twisted into an enraged scowl, its face covered in the pieces of glass crushed in Labrys's hand as her chain knuckle landed. Droplets of black blood trickled down its face, which its tongue was swift to lick away.

"I-Impossible..." The creature jabbed a finger at Labrys. The glass fell loose from its face like snowflakes. "I can still see the writing on your arm! So how...how did you break free of my Skill?"

Labrys cupped her circular ear and feigned confusion. Her reply did not come in Sicilian. "何? 何だと?" What? What did you say?

Born Slippy's prominent mouth fell open as it heard Labrys's alien words. "What...what the hell did you just say?"

Labrys cupped a hand to her circular ear. "ごめんなさい、わかりません." I'm sorry, I don't understand.

Her language settings hung on the peripherals of her vision, where it showed that her primary language module have been switched from Italian to Japanese. She couldn't have known that not understanding the letters nullified Born Slippy's abilities, but she was very glad that her insane stretch of a plan worked.

She found herself smirking as she read her internal clock. She wanted to say "Didn't you say you were going to finish me off in ten seconds? It's already well past that," but the creature wouldn't have understood her anyway.

"Fuck!" Born Slippy's fists shook as it gnashed its teeth in clear irritation. "Don't tell me you can switch languages on the fly! My Little Speaker can only work on those that speak the same language as those letters! Of all the _bullshit_ …"

It roared, hooking its arms wide, claws poised to attack.

"Fuck it! I'll just tear your head off with my own two hands!"

The creature ran at Labrys. The gynoid was quick to prime both her chain knuckles. She launched them out in unison, but only to manage hit empty air as the creature blurred between them with a unbelievable speed. Before she knew it, the creature was already a feet away, its clawed hands reaching for her neck. Her heart became still.

 _Oh crap! It's fast!_

Time slowed down, the seconds stretching into minutes. Born Slippy's claws inched closer in slow-motion. Her arms retracted back at a rate that was a breadth slower, too slow to be able to allow her to counter the creature's strikes in time.

 _I...I can't dodge or block in time!_

Labrys closed her eyes.

"HIDEBU~!"

The gnarled cry of pain from the creature prompted the robot to open her eyes again. When she did, she was met with a rather bizarre sight. That of a long, thin, tendril was pierced directly through Born Slippy's head, completely impaling it from the other side. The tendril had a metallic sheen that reflected the ceiling. It curved around like a serpent, leading to a familiar figure standing in the doorway.

"M-Mila-san!"

Mila held her switchblade in her right hand, its blade having gone a startling transformation. It had elongated to an incredible length, twisting and moving like a living snake. She glared at Born Slippy, with a calm focus that the gynoid did not expect from a woman of such volatile emotions.

"A...Another Stand-user?" Born Slippy growled, blood trickling down its head. "W-Who the hell are you?"

"Me? I'm the one that's goin' to end your life asshole," Mila replied.

The creature growled and was about to jump at her with the twisted blade still lodhed inside it, when she flicked her hand. The elongated blade reacted, dragging the creature back and flinging it towards the far wall of the bathroom with a snap like a whip's. It crashed against the wall, forming additional cracks over the one it already made when it slammed into it initially. It slumped before its body dropped, trailing a dark smear against the surface of the wall as its head sagged.

Labrys felt a weight lift off her arm. She saw that the words were gone.

"Hey Labrys, ya alright?" Mila turned to the gynoid. The woman saw the scratch on her cheek and quickly placed a palm across it. "Oh _shit_! Did that fucker do that to you?"

Labrys tried to explain, but the foreign words coming out of her mouth drew a perplexed look from Mila.

"Alright, I won't question why you speakin' Kansai dialect Japanese like that," She glanced towards Born Slippy. "But I get the general gist...that this guy ambushed you right in this bathroom...like a spineless rat!"

The blade retracted back towards the hilt, assuming its regular form. Labrys scanned the odd weapon, sensing it had traces of the same energy that composed Purple Haze lingering around its otherwise normal metal.

"So here it is...my Stand **「** Black Blade **」** ," Mila whispered, raising the switchblade."I wasn't plannin' on revealin' its true nature so soon...but looks I didn't have a choice."

She turned to Labrys with a pensive look in her green eyes. "Sorry if I spooked you earlier. I'm used to hangin' around hard knocks that could usually handle the crap spewin' out of my mouth. Didn't mean things to turn out this way..."

Mila turned her attention back to Born Slippy. She flipped the knife to her gloved hand, the blade of her unusual weapon deforming and transforming into a wide, flat broadsword. If her resemblance to Unit #024 wasn't obvious before, then the form her weapon took was the cherry on top.

The woman walked towards Born Slippy, lifting the knife-turned-sword to rest on her shoulders. She brandished the weapon easily, suggesting its weight had not changed with its size. Either that, or her gloved arm was incredibly strong. Or perhaps both.

"Stay back…" She said to Labrys.

Born Slippy let out a sickly hack. It twisted its head around to reveal a second, mask-like face with a hole punctured through its blue forehead, leaking black blood that showed no signs of stopping. Its sockets were stretched wide, fully exposing its eyes. Eyes that were yellow and covered in stripes...eyes that gave Labrys a feeling sense of dread. Eyes similar to those belonging to Purple Haze.

"H-how…" The creature managed to wheeze out from its mask mouth. "How did you know my **「** vital area **」** was my mask?"

"Oh that?" Mila smirked. "That man you met outside? He's a smart one...rumor has it he boasts an IQ of 152..."

Mila pointed Black Blade at Born Slippy like a knight would. "So when you blathered about how he'd missed your so-called _vital area_ , it didn't take long for him to figure out that the mask on the back of your head is what you were referrin' to."

"T-The man outside?" Born Slippy's mask stammered. "Y-You mean…"

"Yeah that's right," Mila whipped out a smartphone from her vest pockets. "He's my boss. He called and told me everythin'...so I rushed here as fast as I can, knowin' you were goin' after signorina Labrys here," She snarled. The hand around her weapon shook. "And to think a piece of shit like you killed Tiramisu..."

The woman slipped the phone back into her vest. She put both hands on her Black Blade, leveling its jagged tip towards Born Slippy.

"Any last words asshole? Because if not, that long ass tongue of yours would make a perfect Colombian necktie!"

A blood spout erupted from the hole in the mask made by Black Blade. Born Slippy's neck made an audible snap as it bent its head back to hide the mask. Its was smiling.

"No...I've already _said_ all I've wanted to say…"

The tone of renewed confidence made Labrys uneasy, though Mila didn't seem to have noticed. She only made an irritated sucking of her teeth as she waltzed forward, ready to drive her blade through the creature's face. She was stopped by a white object drifted down from the ceiling, landing on the floor in front of her.

Mila blinked. "A speech bubble?"

"Gehehe…" Born Slippy quietly chuckled. It slowly raised an arm, directing a finger towards the ceiling. "Up there."

Labrys and Mila both looked up, to see bits of white peeking out through the spaces between the ceiling tiles. A few tiles pushed loose, revealing the speech bubbles that had been tucked behind them, each displaying the same phrase.

 **「** **KILL YOURSELF BY DESTROYING YOUR OWN HEAD** **」**

 **「** **KILL YOURSELF BY DESTROYING YOUR OWN HEAD** **」**

 **「** **KILL YOURSELF BY DESTROYING YOUR OWN HEAD** **」**

"I...I booby trapped the whole ceiling with Little Speaker as a contingency...in case the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon pulled any tricks on me..." Born Slippy mumbled. It slowly rose back on its shaking feet, blood still leaking from the back of its head.

It shot a finger at Labrys. "But she switched languages on me! So I can't use them all on her anymore as I've planned!"

It redirected its point at Mila. "However...it's good to know that I won't be lettin' those speech bubbles go to waste...now that _you're_ here!"

The ceiling collapsed apart.

"Oh shit!" Mila was stepped back, as the speech bubbles flew towards them. For Labrys, everything went into slow motion once more.

 _Oh crap...I won't be affected by those...but I can't say the same for Mila-san! I gotta do something…_

The gynoid's heart trembled.

 _But...there's too many! I can't...I can't block them all..._

Right in that moment...right as her heart gave in to despair...she dug into a hidden inner strength. A powerful presence buried in a part of her that she had not been aware of, erupting to the surface as if answered her will.

Before she knew it, a misty bluish aura flickered around her.

"Holy shit!" Mila exclaimed. "What the hell is _that_?"

Labrys studied the ceiling and tried to make sense of the absurdity she saw. The speech bubbles were held back, contained by what can be best described as a giant intricate web made of string, formed from pure red energy. The web itself wasn't like anything a spider could make. It was huge, stretching across the entire width and length of the ceiling, and was in a perfect hexagonal shape with labyrinthine patterns tucked within its different sections.

Born Slippy trembled. "Aw fuck."

Labrys noticed it wasn't facing the web but to her...or rather something behind her, where she felt a presence. Whatever it was, it sent a tingling down her neck.

She slowly turned, coming face to face with a pair of red eyes.

Eyes belonging to a humanoid that had manifested behind her without her knowing, one with a noticeably female build. Her white and silver body was partially armored with a white gown. Her eyes were completely crimson throughout, all sclerae with no pupils or irises. Her pale face was remarkably human-like, her magnificent mane of silver hair dancing in the air despite there being no wind inside the bathroom.

Labrys's first instinct would have been to attack the humanoid...though she couldn't bring herself to. She felt no hostility from the being, no need to defend herself as a result. What she felt instead was a sentimental familiarity with the humanoid, as if she was a long lost friend that she had forgotten about.

"Oh shit…" Mila whispered. She was staring at her wide-eyed. Her gaze switched back and forth between the gynoid and the entity floating behind her.

"I thought you said you didn't have a Stand!"

Labrys blurted out an answer in Japanese, but switched to Sicilian halfway once she realized it was safe to swap out language modules without the words on her arm.

"I thought I didn't! I swear!"

Black Blade shrunk back to the shape of a normal switchblade as Mila waved it at the female humanoid. "What the hell do you call _her_ then?"

"I...I don't know! It's the first time I've seen her!"

A feeling in her gut nagged at her, telling her that the answer she gave might've not been completely true.

"We can figure out all of this later," Mila replied. "At least she saved our butts."

She turned towards Born Slippy, standing against the bathroom wall. Labrys could've sworn she noticed the female humanoid clench her fists, as if it was reacting to her desire to defend against the enemy.

"Hey...I thought I pierced your vital area!" Mila shouted at the monster. "How come you ain't dead yet!"

Born Slippy growled. It landed on all fours, the blood from its mask dotting the floor.

"M-my mask has adapted to survive high caliber gunfire rounds! Your measly attack only amounted to nothing but a mere flesh wound!" The creature said in a desperate tone. Its stuttering hinted that the wound was more severe than it was claiming to be. It raked its claws across the floor tiles, leaving thin, leaf-shaped scratches. "However, if I were to puncture a hole through _your_ face...I wonder if you'll be just as lucky!"

A deafening shriek erupted out of its throat. It was unlike any noise which matched the ones made by animals recorded in Labrys's database, shaking her down to the bolts holding her together.

" **WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY~!** "

The creature threw all caution to the wind and launched itself towards the two women.

Mila was already ready to cut the beast down in half, but the female humanoid beat her to it.

She raised a hand, and streams of red string erupted from the ground beneath Born Slippy, forming blades that skewered its body. The blades flung the creature against wall, pinning it there and forcing another layer of cracks. It howled in pain as black blood erupted from wherever the blades hit, dripping down the string-formed weapons to speckle the floor with dark spots.

It twitched in place. Mila studied the creature, then whistled.

"Damn, your Stand is _fast_."

Her Black Blade unfurled into eight separate tendrils, each tip barbed with multiple jagged ends shaped like harpoon tips. She took a step towards Born Slippy. "So Mr. Big Mouth...since you think I didn't stab you hard enough, how 'bout I make pepperoni out of that mask of yours?"

"Wait Mila-san..." Labrys said. She exchanged a sideways glance with the female humanoid, who remained stoic. Whatever the humanoid was, she seemed to be under her complete command...kind of like a Stand.

"I have a question for it."

Mila regarded her for a quiet moment, then respectfully stepped back with a grin. Her Black Blade's branching tendrils snapped back into one and shrunk to its normal size.

"The asshole is all yours."

She took a deep breath and stared the creature in the spots where its eyes would have been.

The female humanoid moved forward, reacting to her will as expected, moving like a second body she could mentally control. The humanoid bent down and yanked Born Slippy by the head, forcing it downward to reveal its bleeding mask face. Its yellow eyes were crossed, clearly dazed.

With another thought, Labrys willed the female humanoid to slap the side of the creature's head, causing a shriek from the mask, its eyes spinning in their sockets before settling onto her.

"Those eyes of yours," Labrys whispered. "I've seen them before…and I want to know _where_."

The mask's frowning mouth slowly upturned to a grin. "Oh...I'm sure you have, you fucking toas-"

The female humanoid slapped the same side of Born Slippy's head again, harder than before. The mask hissed.

"I won't ask a second time, so listen carefully," Labrys narrowed her gaze. "I want to know...just what the hell are you."

The mask chuckled. It talked slower, its voice brought to a labored whisper as the blood continue to trickle down from the hole in its forehead. "It's in your name, Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon."

Labrys paused to mull over the creature's answers. Her eye lit up as she searched for the meaning behind her model name, finding a bit of code hidden inside her programming detailing how she was designed to fight a very specific enemy. "You...you're a Shadow?"

The mask let out a laugh. "Well...I guess that ain't quite right. I _used_ to be a Shadow...until I got hit in the tongue with the **「** Arrow **」**!"

A second tongue slipped out of its mask mouth, licking away a drop of its blood. "Now? I'm a **「** Shadow Human **」**!"

 _A Shadow...Human?_

It was only one word off from what a Shadow was, but the gynoid felt that there was more significance to that discrepancy. She couldn't forget that her sensors kept marking the creature as an Unidentified Hostile Organism. Had it been a Shadow, her sensors would've picked it out as such according to the code in her programming. There was obviously more to the mystery, and she only scratched the surface.

Born Slippy nudged its brow. "The same kind of Arrow, by the way, that's stored inside your heart!"

Labrys's eyes went wide. Based on what Fugo had told her at the hospital, Labrys assumed it was an artifact that only created Stand-users. He conveniently forgot to mention the part where it made horrible, bloodthirsty monsters.

The gynoid narrowed her eyes at Born Slippy. "You...mentioned a bounty on my head. It's because of the Arrow inside me, isn't it?"

"No shit Sherlock!" The mask cackled. "I thought you robots were supposed to be smart!"

The female humanoid pinched the mask's cheek, twisting it and causing it to wince in clear pain. "Ack!"

"Whose the one that put the bounty out?"

The mask snarled viciously. Its eyes thinned within its sockets. Then, it laughed.

"Gehehe...he's a being far beyond the likes of you...than humanity itself! He's someone you'll _never_ reach."

Born Slippy's head snapped out of the female humanoid's grasp.

"Because I'm going to tear the Arrow right out of you!"

It snapped its body forward, pushing through the blades stuck through it to free itself.

"Oh shit! Watch out!" Mila shouted.

The female humanoid, as if perfectly synched to Labrys's superhuman senses, launched a fist towards the creature. It didn't land, but instead caused a large mass made of string to collide into the monster. A mass shaped like a stylized depiction of a charging bull.

"AGACK!" Born Slippy's body was thrown across the room with such tremendous force that it took the wall with it, sending it flying out of the building and into the streets beyond. The resulting hole was massive, letting in streams of sunlight and the outdoor air along with views of the outside.

The bull the female humanoid summoned vanished, as did the humanoid herself, no longer needed. Both Labrys and Mila were left staring the gaping hole in silence, as a tiny pigeon landed gently on the bathroom tile, pecking at the floor in blissful ignorance of the battle that just took place.

"Well shit…"

Black Blade turned into a comb as Mila quietly swept her hair with it before retracting it and putting it away in her vest.

"Um...remind me again if its us that should be protectin' you, or the other way around?"

Without answering Mila, Labrys bolted towards the hole.

"Hey! What the hell are ya doin'!?"

The gynoid ignored her as she leapt through the opening, the spooked pigeon flying out of her way. Her sensors didn't say anything, but she had a feeling in her gut that told her that the creature was not quite yet vanquished.

* * *

Labrys landed on a narrow side alley right next to the cafe, her metal feet causing cracks as she landed on the pavement. She immediately began scanning the area for any signs of Born Slippy. Her sensors were quick to pick up on the presence of a life form, near to her right. She whirled around, seeing it was a stray cat perched atop the brick wall that flanked the alley. The tabby regarded Labrys with its yellow eyes, its tail and ears straightening, before skittering away.

"Drats...where did that creep go?"

Her attention shifted over to a spot on the ground. A dark spot, like a blood stain. And next to the spot was another...and another. As her eyes moved along the ground, she saw that it wasn't just one spot, but an entire trail...leading directly to an area behind a nearly overflowing trash can.

A mass shifted from behind the can, instantly putting Labrys on alert. Her metal fingers curled tight.

 _There you are…_

Labrys felt the power of the humanoid still laying dormant in her, ready to be drawn like a sword from a sheath.

As she neared, she saw more of the mass, noting it was a huddling figure cloaked in darkness. Gritting her teeth, the she raised her fist, ready to strike at the shifting shadow. Unknowingly, the same misty aura that surrounded her before appeared again.

She scanned the creature and paused. The aura vanished. She blinked, unable to believe that what her sensors were telling her was correct.

 _Wait a minute...its human?_

The heart rate and biotic signs were all over the place, but they were unmistakably within the parameters of a normal human being.

The figure immediately turned and Labys was met with a familiar face. It wasn't the creature...but a man. The same man, in fact, that she had bumped on the street...the weirdly dressed one with the striped moptop. He didn't wear his sunglasses, revealing his brown eyes and a bloodied forehead. He let out a yelp, shaken by Labrys's sudden appearance.

"Ah...you're the girl who can speak Sicilian!" The man murmured as he continued to shake.

Labrys noticed he was covered in blood and injuries beyond the obvious one on his head. Most of the blood was a dark red, but a few streaks on his clothes looked black like the creature's. His jacket was more tattered than before, as if chewed and scratched at by a vicious animal.

"What...what are _you_ doin' here?" Labrys said.

The man swallowed. "I...I was just walkin' around the area...I even thought of gettin' a cappuccino from the cafe…"

He shook more uncontrollably than before, holding his arms and assuming a near fetal position.

"That was when I was attacked! By...by that hideous... _eyeless_ … _thing_!"

That explained how the creature's black blood got on him, most likely leaking upon him when he was attacked by the monster.

"Which...which way did it go?" Labrys asked, her eyes darting around the alley.

The man pointed to the mouth of the alleyway, leading to a side street that banked right. "It...it went that way!"

Labrys sighed. She felt sorry for the man, but she had to make sure the creature didn't hurt anyone else. "I'll get help. But please...stay here."

She turned to the direction of where the man indicated the creature went. With her back turned to him, she failed to notice that he stopped shaking, nor could she see his grin.

Born Slippy rose up on the legs of its human form, silently creeping out from behind the trash can as it stared at the back of Labrys's head.

 _Heh! That idiot machine! She actually fell for it! My human form actually tricked her!_

The machine was oblivious as it inched closer to her. Its mask climbed over its human form's head with spider-like limbs, depositing itself on its face. It pierced the sides of its head, initiating silent transformation sequence that covered its human body in a cocoon of shadow, twisting its head backwards to assume the long-tongued, hairless form of Born Slippy.

 _This is it...her back is turned...I can kill her now!_ The creature eagerly grinned, the nails glinting on its hand as it raised it towards the sun, folding it flat to deliver a fatal chop. _I'll take her head off with this one blow! She'll never see it coming! Gehehehe…_

The shadow of its arm fell upon her shoulder. It ran its tongue across its lips.

 _Goodbye...Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon!_

Labrys bristled. A new reading triggered her sensors.

 **UNKNOWN HOSTILE ORGANISM DETECTED…**

 _What? How-_

She could feel every bolt of her being freeze in place as a thought came to her, carried to her computer brain in a fraction of a microsecond.

 _That man...could he be..._

She whirled around without a single instant of delay, chain knuckle raised. The creature stood right behind her.

 _Damn it...the man was the monster all along!_

She was about to launch her fist into the creature's grinning face...but was slow on the draw. The elbow of another had already collided into the creature's cheek during her moment of hesitation. The creature was struck with so much force that it spun twice in place before colliding into the trash can.

Her eyes went agape as she recognized the owner of the checkered elbow that had struck at the monster, as well as its master standing right behind it.

"F-Fugo-san!"

"Well well well...we meet again motherfucker!" Fugo spat, his eyes containing a tranquil fury as he affixed them to the downed monster. His hands were covered in layers of gauze. As he tightened them, tiny droplets of scarlet fell from the edges of his knuckles. In front of him, snarling like a rabid attack dog barely kept back by its leash, was Purple Haze.

Born Slippy grumbled, its jaw shaking as if knocked completely loose. It tilted its head slowly towards Fugo. It popped its chin back with a sickening creak, picking itself up from the trash, its back having dented the can.

"Y-you…"

Fugo popped his neck. Purple Haze bared its fists. "The thing you gotta learn about us gangsters is that we're very thorough."

Cornered feral animals often had a knack for being overtaken by their instincts to flee or fight. Born Slippy inclined to the latter as its mouth stretched open.

" **「** **GO KILL YOURSE-** **」** "

Purple Haze lashed out, one of its fists stuffing itself into Born Slippy's open mouth before it could utter a single word, stopping its lethal phrase from leaving its throat. It gagged on the Stand's limb, hissing in surprise.

Fugo's eyebrows angled. "We gangsters...don't leave things unfinished."

Purple Haze let out a guttural snarl as it yanked its fist free from Born Slippy's mouth, knocking the Shadow Human's teeth out in the process. In its grip was the creature's tongue, which it proceed to quickly uproot out of its mouth like a vegetable. Black blood to sprayed all over its stunned face. It couldn't even manage a single scream before Purple Haze used its other hand to twist its head with a sickening pop at a full one hundred and eighty degrees, exposing its mask-face.

The mask's eyes became enlarged spheres as it met Purple Haze's gaze, its terrified visage reflected across the Stand's eyes.

That was when the punching began.

" **UBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!** "

Purple Haze struck the mask over and over again, its blows fast and rhythmic like a jackhammer's. With each blow, a knuckle orb cracked, leaking out clouds of the same pathogen Labrys had sensed in it earlier. When the last of its blows landed, the Stand let out an vicious hiss, baring its teeth at the mutilated mask of Born Slippy as if to savor the violence it enacted upon it, then tossed its victim away like an unwanted piece of trash against the wall.

Labrys stood there in shock. It was her first time seeing Purple Haze in action. She has never seen anything act so savagely, taken aback by its banshee-like battle cry and accompanying display of brutality, both of which have shaken her to the core. She hoped she stayed on Fugo's good side, because she found his Stand even more frightening than Born Slippy.

"I have to admit, none of the gangsters I've ever dealt with were as hard to kill as you were," Fugo said, turning his back coolly to Born Slippy's body. Purple Haze calmed down after its ferocious barrage, turning stone-faced as it assumed a position overlooking Fugo's shoulder, though its brow remained furrowed as if it couldn't stop being angry. "But, it looks like you've underestimated just how dangerous a Passione capo can be, you ugly son of a bitch."

The creature was slumped against the wall, its movements limited to spasms. Its head remained permanently twisted, its neck shaped like a wrung towel. Its mask...Labrys didn't even know a word that can describe how horrifically marred it had become. Over half of it had melted into indiscernible goop, while one socket mostly eaten away, the yellow eye inside it losing its glossy sheen as it drooped down the side of its face like a raw egg yolk. Disgusting pustules appeared over whatever parts of the mask remained, its slack jaw leaking thick ichor.

It could no longer speak, only capable of making continuous sickly gurgling noises. The beast wasn't just on death's doorstep. The door itself had struck it on the face.

"Labrys...are you alright?"

Labrys snapped away from the sight of the dying monster to look at Fugo. Purple Haze vanished into him. The look of a cold-hearted killer vanished from his face, replaced by a look of concern as he noticed the cut on the gynoid's cheek.

"Labrys...you're hurt!"

"It's fine," Labrys replied, her finger going to the cut. "Nothin' really…"

She was quick to notice that Fugo wasn't in an exact position to worry about the injuries of others, her eyes hovering over to his hands.

"Fugo-san...what about you? You're hands!"

Fugo held up his bandage wrapped hands. "Oh this?" He smirked. "It ain't too bad. I expected worse to be honest with you."

"But...how did your hands end up that way?"

"It's Purple Haze's ability."

Labrys had expected Fugo to give up the creature's name as an answer, so she was perplexed with the answer she actually received.

"I'm not sure I exactly understand Fugo-san...are ya sayin' your own Stand did that to ya?"

Fugo nodded, then sighed. "Purple Haze's ability can't harm you, since you're body is metal and all. But for everything that's organic...that's a different story. Which means its ability can harm even me, its user."

Labrys looked at the gangster, then at the creature his Stand had attacked. Traces of the Stand's pathogen lingered around its body, steadily vanishing into the sunlight.

"Fugo-san, how do you deal with that..."

Fugo raised an eyebrow. "Deal with what?"

"Deal with havin' an ability so dangerous that you can hurt yourself."

Fugo regarded the gynoid for a quiet moment. He shrugged. "A Stand is like a family member. You can't choose what it is, so you have to live with it. Besides...I'm making it work."

Before Labrys could say anything further, Mila ran up to them, nearly out of breath.

"Fuck...how 'bout you warn me the next time you're thinkin' of just jumping out of a two story window like that!"

"Oh, hello Mila," Fugo said.

"Oh! Fugo!" Mila's eye lit up, wiping a bead of sweat from her chin. She was quick to pull out Black Blade, her green eyes darting frantically around the alley with the Stand infused weapon brandished. "That long-tongued bastard...I think it escaped this way-"

She paused as her eyes fell upon Born Slippy's body. "Oh…"

She placed the knife away, looking at the creature warily. "Is it…?"

"Purple Haze cracked its mask…" Fugo said, turning to Mila. "According to my theory, that should've done the trick. And since it ain't moving, I'd say the theory is corre-"

" _You're all going to die._ "

The nerves of everyone in the group tensed as Born Slippy spoke. They all glanced in unison towards the creature, who wasn't entirely dead as everyone thought. It clung onto life just enough to force a malformed smile with whatever remained of its mask's mouth.

Mila pulled out her Black Blade, assuming a combat stance as her Stand's blade extended into the sleek shape of a katana.

Labrys brandished her knuckles by reflex. Fugo's Purple Haze appeared behind him instantaneously.

"What the _fuck_? What does it take to kill you asshole!?" Fugo shouted. His Stand lurched forward, fists raised ready to deal a true final blow.

It stopped as Born Slippy's head snapped back halfway, the toothless, red-lipped mouth on the other side of its head vomiting out a square object covered in black bile. It clattered on the ground beside it, revealing its cracked, glowing screen. It wasn't a speech bubble.

"Is...is that a fuckin' phone?" Mila exclaimed.

Born Slippy's head snapped back, revealing its mask face, deliriously grinning.

"You...you bastards better get used to looking over your shoulders everywhere you go from here on out...because my「brothers and sisters」will be hunting you wherever you go!"

Fugo narrowed his eyes at the creature. "What...what the hell are you talking about?"

Born Slippy cackled, then hacked out more bile. Cracks began to appear across the half of its mask that remained, leaking out dark dust that evaporated into the air. "You guys think I'm the only「Shadow Human」around these parts? Wrong! I've already let the others of my kind know that you're li'l group here is harboring the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon!"

Labrys froze as the creature leveled a trembling finger towards her. "And they won't stop...not until everyone who's protecting her is dead...not until they've finally clawed the「Arrow」out of her wretched little heart!"

Mila quickly stood in front of Labrys, weapon leveled.

Fugo's knuckles tightened. "How...how many of you monsters are there?"

Born Slippy only lightly giggled in response. More cracks appeared on it's mask, granting it the texture of broken porcelain. Individual pieces of the mask falling away, turning into dust before they hit the ground. Its body followed suit, scattering away piece by piece into black pollen. Its voice became strained.

"I'll...I'll say this. If you guys thought _I_ was bad..."

The last of its body decayed away, breaking into coal-like chunks which further decomposed into ashy particles. Its final words were carried away by the wind, the fragments of its mask floating into the air like disintegrating blossom petals.

" _...wait until you get a load of them…_ "

Each member of the group traded quiet glances with one another, looking for answers that they knew the others didn't have. Mila retracted Black Blade and tucked it away slowly and Fugo willed Purple Haze to vanish, both without a word.

The silence lingered on for minutes, before it was broken by the sound of wings beating overhead. Labrys looked up and saw that it was Lynyrd, who proceeded to land on top of the brick wall that Born Slippy's body had been laying against but a few seconds ago.

"I searched the surrounding area for the creature but I couldn't find…" The cockatoo paused, noting the looks on the rest of the crew. He looked down, his mohawk feathers unfurling as he noticed the smear of black blood across the wall.

"Alright...what party did I miss?"

"One you'd never want to get invited to," Fugo said, his focus still on the spot where the creature had been. He placed his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Shit...did that thing just say there's _more_ of em'?" Mila murmured.

"It doesn't matter how many of them there are," Fugo replied. "We still have a job to do."

He glanced at Lynyrd. "Lynyrd, contact the nearest group of operatives. Tell them we need transportation…"

A dark look came over him. "And when they arrive...make sure they give Tiramisu a proper gangster's burial. He deserves that much."

"Tch," Mila rubbed her arm and looked away. Lynyrd's mohawk retracted as his avian face assumed a solemn expression. "I...I understand Mr. Fugo."

Labrys didn't know what could have happened to Tiramisu, but she was under the impression it was probably best not to ask.

"Labrys…"

The gynoid noticed Fugo's gaze.

"I know we promised to take you to the Ponte della Liberta...but looks like we're going to have to scrap those plans."

Labrys sighed. "I understand Fugo-san," Her eyes lingered over on the spot where Born Slippy's blood remained. "Knowin' these things are after me, it prolly wouldn't be smart goin' out in the open like that."

Fugo nodded.

Mila cleared her throat with emphasis.

"What is it Mila?"

Mila nudged Labrys on her shoulder. "You should tell him."

"Huh?" The gynoid flexed a brow. "What are ya talkin' about Mila-san?"

Mila shot her a look of disbelief. "Oh come on...how can you forget about the thing that saved our butts back there?"

Labrys was still not following.

Mila slapped her own forehead. "I'm talkin' about your Stand dummy! Dontcha think the rest of the gang ought to know ya have one?"

"Oh. Right…" The existence of her own Stand slipped her mind, given all the crazy things that had happened in the span of just the past few minutes.

"Hold on…" Fugo chimed in. "Did you say she has a-"

Labrys called out the female humanoid before the capo could finish. The sight of the being, with her supernaturally blowing hair and white and silver form, caused Lynyrd to nearly fall off the wall. Fugo on the other hand, didn't seem as surprised as he ought to be, his reaction limited to a flexing of his brow. He crossed his arms, the corner of his lip curling into a smirk.

"I thought you said you were sure you didn't have a Stand?" He said with a noticeably bemused tone.

"Guess I was wrong," Labrys shrugged. "Or rather...I must've forgotten about it," She tapped the metal grate on her head. "Not surprising', given the issues with my memories."

Fugo stroked his chin, studying the female humanoid. "So...you have a name for it?"

"Um...I don't have one," Labrys replied earnestly. She couldn't remember its name, if it even had one to begin with. She certainly didn't have time to think of one when she was fighting for her life against the so-called Shadow Human.

"Well, you should come up with one. She's yours after all."

Labrys looked to the female humanoid, whose head turned towards her. Their eyes met, and, while deep in thought, a word sparked in the recesses of the gynoid's mind.

"How about...Ariadne?"

"Ariadne?" Fugo remarked.

"That's the name of the mythical daughter of the King Minos of Crete, who gave Theseus a ball of red string so he can navigate the labyrinth of the Minotaur," Lynyrd said. He stroked the bottom of his beak with his feathers. "Curious...why name your Stand after her?"

"Dunno really," Labrys answered. "The name...it just popped into my head. And I like the sound of it."

"It _is_ kinda fittin'" Mila interjected. "Given that your Stand ability seems to revolve around string."

Lynyrd glanced at Mila. "How do you know that?"

"I saw it in action. Saw it beat the shit out of that thing. Straight up punched it through the goddamn wall."

Fugo looked to Labrys. "Is that true?"

The gynoid nodded. "My Stand...Ariadne...she came to my aid right as the monster attacked me. Without her...I didn't know what would happen."

Fugo chuckled. Labrys found it surprising he could be in good humor despite being attacked by a hideous monster and now knowing its entire family is after them.

"Well...can't say that doesn't make our job easier," Fugo smiled, looking to the Ariadne instead of Labrys. "So Ms. Ariadne...I trust you'll be a good bodyguard, capisce?"

Labrys could have sworn she saw Ariadne nod her head ever so slightly, before she vanished.

Fugo walked over to the phone produced by Born Slippy. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the ichor covering it. Its screen was no longer alight, and was visibly cracked in half.

"Shit, this phone is busted," Fugo said. "Still, maybe we can break it apart and salvage some data from it. Find out who exactly this Born Slippy asshole contacted.

"Good idea boss-man," Mila replied. "But we sure as hell can't stay here anymore. Any ideas?"

"I know of a Passione safehouse within Trieste. We just need some way to get there," Fugo said. He looked to Lynyrd, who nodded and flew off without another word.

"The best we can do is lay low and hope the enemy doesn't find us. In the meantime…"

Fugo bent down towards Born Slippy's blood stain and retrieved a tiny plastic bag along with a metal pen, gently using the latter to gently swipe a smudge of the black substance into the former. He stood up, holding the sample to the sunlight. "I'll see if Murolo can find out anything about these creatures...these Shadow Humans. The more we know, the better."

He pocketed the sample and nodded towards the street. "While Lynyrd gets help, let's find a place to wait."

Mila nodded and followed Fugo as they made their way out of the alleyway. Labrys remained a step behind, taking the chance to shoot one more glance at the blood spot on the wall. With the creature dead, its body vanished, she could pick up things inside its blood that she couldn't before.

Namely, her sensors picked up on the traces of a dying bacteria. Ones that oddly matched the parameters of the ones incubating within the Arrow inside her chest.

* * *

 **Elsewhere…**

A police officer sat at his desk inside the Trieste Police Station, one hand typing away on the computer, while the other was busy holding a large slice of pizza he was scarving down as if he'd been fasting for centuries. In fact, it would be the thirtieth pizza slice he has eaten since morning, as evidenced by the stack of pizza boxes piled next to his desk. Yet, despite the man's appetite, his form remained skinny...bone thin even, to the point where his cheekbones appeared as ridges across his skin.

The man's name according to the plaque on his desk was Bomboloni Ciambella. But that wasn't his real name...nor was his human appearance his true form.

" _Damn...Officer Ciambella eats so much, yet he's as thin as a twig! It's as if he has a hole in his stomach…"_

" _Hey hey hey...watch what you say. He's a hero cop you know...what with saving the governor's daughter from those armed robbers."_

Bomboloni twitched his lip. He recognized the first voice as belonging to a deputy that had only spent a month on the force, the second belonging to Officer Adriano, his partner. They kept their voices low, and he wouldn't have been able to hear them if his hearing was as pitiful as a human's.

He disliked having to disguise himself as a human, not because of how uncomfortably tight his human form felt, but because of the dreary gossip that he had to deal with on a daily basis.

 _Humans...so fucking noisy. Not even Born Slippy talked this much…_

The vibrating of Bomboloni's phone on his desk prompted him to stop typing, his mouth ceasing mid-chew on his current slice of pizza. His attention went to the phone's screen, where he saw a message notification from...speak of the devil...Born Slippy.

 **FROM: BORN SLIPPY**

 **TO: PEACH FUZZ, 1 of XX recipients**

 **1 ATTACHMENT.**

Bomboloni placed the slice of pizza down. He picked up his phone and clicked on the attachment, which turned out to be a video clip. It played automatically.

The officer tilted his head. Based on the teeth and gums flanking the edges of the screen, the video seemed to have been shot from inside Born Slippy's mouth. It showed a man in a swiss cheese suit, a woman with green hair...and a girl he instantly recognized as the one in the wanted poster on the message sent to every member of La Comunita.

Bomboloni's eyes widened.

"The Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon..."

A wide grin broke out across the officer's face. A sense of excitement shook his chest as he noticed the location was displayed as Duran Duran Cafe, Venice, Italy. He placed his pizza slice down and sat up from his desk, placing his officer's hat on his head, keeping the brim low so the shadows would fall over his eyes. He licked his smiling lips.

 _Well...guess now is a good time to go on my shift._

* * *

 **Elsewhere...**

A strange creature sat on an endless desert plain, a plain that was not on Earth but a place strongly linked to it. His body was like a cardinal red machine, his head wrapped in a white cloth. The striped red eyes poking through his gold-plated face was mesmerized by the screen of the old fashioned television in front of him.

" _Diplomatic relationships continue to deteriorate as border skirmishes increase…"_

The creature scoffed. He scratched at the sand in front of him with a large blade growing from his wrist. "I'll never understand why the others choose to live in the human world."

A weight shifted beside him, pushing away grains of sand. A pair of banded red eyes, similar to his, peeked through the surface of the sand.

"But big bro, the human world can't be that bad right?" A voice whispered out of the sand. "I heard it has some interesting things...like hamburgers and 3D printers!"

The creature shook his steel head. "With the way the humans are, their entire world will probably be reduced to a nuclear wasteland in a few years. That is if the pollution or climate change doesn't get to them first."

The eyes in the sand blinked. "I think you're too pessimistic aniki…"

The creature heard a buzzing. He looked over and saw that his smartphone, which was his primarily communications platform with the rest of his kind, had a message notification. His eyes focused on the notification, its lens magnifying like that of a telescope.

 **FROM: BORN SLIPPY**

 **TO: DEVIL'S GATE DRIVE, ARCANE PANZERKAMPF 2 of XX recipients**

 **1 ATTACHMENT.**

The creature tapped the screen gently with the tip of his arm blade, causing it to play.

His heart stopped as he saw sight of a girl with red eyes, her face exactly matching the one on the wanted poster sent out earlier the other day.

A large mass rose out from the sand. A mass with a face like the creature's, only wider and nailed with bolts. The owner of the second pair of eyes.

"What is it aniki?" The giant entity spoke, rising onto its caterpillar track-covered legs.

The creature eyed the phone screen, frozen and zoomed in on the girl's face.

"Little brother...looks like we're going to be stepping into the human world after all…"

* * *

 **Elsewhere...**

A large six-foot tall man stood in a graffiti-covered alleyway, bearing down on several bodies squirming in pain by his feet. His muscular arms were wrapped around the neck of another, far smaller man in a silver suit, whose beak-shaped nose was bloodied and broken, who had one eye that was swollen purple.

"Hah! Not talkin' so much now, ya loud-mouthed piece of shit!" The large man shouted, his muscles rippling through his short sleeved polo.

The man being choked only responded with wheezes, clawing at his assailant's overly large arms. The large man snarled.

"Let this be a lesson to you and your flunkies…" The man retrieved his smartphone. A tiny, orange plush doll with a bow tie pinned to one ear and a smiling mouth full of cartoonishly sharp teeth. "Make fun of my plush again, and I will break every bone in your pathetic little bodies. That includes the ones I _haven't_ broken yet!"

His victim quickly nodded.

The man relaxed. "Good…"

He let his victim go, letting him fall to the ground to join the rest of his comrades, apparently crooks belonging to a small time gang that thought themselves tough in trying to pick a fight with him. Many of their weapons, ranging from chrome baseball bats to pipes to knives, littered the spaces next to them. The bats and pipes were dented at perfect angles, some showing indents in the shape of fingers.

The large man dusted his hands, crossing his arms to survey his handiwork. The bastards had it coming for them, for deliberately provoking him by making fun of his plush. It went deeper than that of course.

The plush approximated his original form as a Shadow, before he was blessed with the Arrow of Miracles. A reminder of the embarrassing body he once had, and how far he's come.

His phone buzzed.

"Huh?"

He looked at the screen and saw that he had received a message.

 **FROM: BORN SLIPPY**

 **TO: THIN LEXY 1 of XX recipients**

 **1 ATTACHMENT.**

The man played the video.

Once it was done, his mouth grew wide into a grin. His teeth became sharped at perfect angles, just like those of the plush hanging from his phone.

"Well well well...I guess it's time to test this new body of mine out!"

He flexed his muscles, forming veins across his bicep as sharp talons erupted from his fingers. The outline of an upside down face pressed against the chest area of his shirt.

* * *

A man in a suit and tie climbed out of a car and made his way into a bar. His buzz cut had edges of grey, his fierce eyebrows granting more weight to the steely gaze of his grey eyes. Despite being in his mid 50s, the man had the build of someone far younger due to his routine exercise regiment. He had to keep in shape after all, if he was to set an example as the Director of the AISI, Italy's counterpart to the Americans' FBI and one of the most powerful authorities in the land.

However, despite his position, he knew full well that there were others that were beyond his reach. Like the man he was about to meet.

The man sighed, his breath coming out as a misty fog in the chilly evening air. He looked over his shoulder to his driver.

"You can leave."

The driver's head poked out of the window. "You sure Mr. Lupo?"

Pecora Lupo nodded. The driver was hesitant, but did as he was told, driving off into the distance. The AISI director sucked in a breath and fixed his tie. Rabid reporters and the most vicious political enemies he had in his career couldn't make him feel this nervous. He looked towards the ring on his index finger, one that contained the emblem of a blue oyster, and braced himself to meet whoever was inside.

The bar lounge had a relaxed, soothing vibe to it, filled with quiet jazz and the smell of cigarette smoke. The place was completely empty, except for the bartender, quietly cleaning a mug behind the counter. He was a peculiar looking fella, his features Asian or at least mixed, his hair slicked back with excessive amounts of gel. The corners of his black eyebrows were sharp like blades, growing partially past the sides of his head. He had an overall fierce look to him, complemented by the surgical mask that covered his mouth, painted with a demonic, tusked mouth. If Mr. Lupo didn't know any better, he'd say the bartender looked like he belonged to a Yakuza gang, which would have been out of place considering where they were.

The bartender didn't look up as Mr. Lupo entering, either ignoring him or unaware that he had walked in.

"Mr. Lupo...it's about time you showed up."

Mr. Lupo became nearly deathly still as he heard the voice. A charming, gentle voice that sounded like it came from a teenager.

A dark shape moved on one of the counter seats, right nearby the bartender. As it shifted, the shadows themselves moved away from it, revealing its form to be that of a young man. Mr. Lupo instantly recognized him from the jacket he wore, with the words LOVE and PEACE etched respectively on each sleeve, as well as the distinct chain-link appearance of the boy's blonde cornrows.

Mr. Lupo swallowed. "You...you wanted to see me, Il Mietitore?"

The boy turned, revealing the purple eyepatch he wore over his left eye. His other was sparkling blue, complimenting his handsome features that was fit for a boy band cover.

"Please Mr. Lupo...while I'm in my human form, feel free to call me by my human name…"

He shot Mr. Lupo a warm smile.

"Please call me Buck. Buck Dharma."

The boy, Buck, patted the stool next to him. "Have a seat."

Mr. Lupo was used to dealing with powerful people. Not once in those meetings with presidents, senators and the like had he ever felt the shakes. And yet, the boy in front of him, who appeared no older than his own son, was enough to cause his heart to pound away like a jackhammer.

He gulped and found himself sitting right next to the boy, his body having moved against his will. He stared at the counter, refusing to make eye contact with Buck. He shivered once he felt the boy place a hand on his shoulder. It felt cold, as if devoid of all life, the touch chilling him to the bone.

"Have a look at this…"

Buck slid a slick black smartphone across the top of the counter towards Mr. Lupo. The AISI director glanced at the screen, sitting still as he saw a clip play out. He couldn't make heads or tails of all the details, like how the video seemed to have been shot inside the mouth of some unknown creature. What he did recognize was the man in the green suit, who was none other than Pannacotta Fugo, a capo of Passione, though he didn't recognize anyone else. Though the long-haired, red eyed girl in the strange hoodie certainly caught his eye.

Buck tapped the screen to pause the video. He zoomed in on the girl. "Do you know who this is?"

Mr. Lupo shook his head.

Buck grinned. "Don't expect you too. You Stand users probably aren't familiar with Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapons, artificial humans designed to hunt down and destroy Shadows."

He pointed towards the girl. "This girl is one of them, and don't let her looks fool you. She's a literall killing machine, a weapon more dangerous than any knife, gun or bomb.

Mr. Lupo felt Buck inch closer. The boy's smile was gone. "She has the Arrow of Miracles with her, and my people are hunting her down as we speak."

Mr. Lupo slowly craned his neck to look Buck in the eye. "What...what does this have to do with me? And the rest of the Blue Oyster Cult?"

Buck's smile returned, this time with a sinister edge. "I'm glad you asked Mr. Lupo."

He flicked the screen to switch the zoom focus onto Fugo. "I want to see if if you know this man."

Mr. Lupo let out a breath he's been holding in. "That's Pannacotta Fugo. A capo of the Passione syndicate."

Buck stared at Fugo's face for a moment. The boy licked his teeth like a hungry wolf. Mr. Lupo couldn't tell if the lighting of the bar messed with his vision, or the boy really did have fangs.

"This Fugo...he's a Stand user isn't he?"

Mr. Lupo nodded. "Yes. In fact, according to my sources, a good portion of Passione may be Sta-"

The AISI director suddenly felt a cold wave wash over his him. He shuddered, as the air around them began to rumble with tension in a steady heartbeat tempo.

 _ **ゴゴゴ**_ **...** _ **ゴゴゴ**_ **...** _ **ゴゴゴ**_ **...** _ **ゴゴゴ**_ **...** _ **ゴゴゴ**_

Buck was staring at him, his lips curled into a displeased scowl.

"Remember the pact Mr. Lupo? Between my people and yours?"

As Buck spoke, Mr. Lupo could feel icy sweat break across his brow.

"The deal was simple...we help you Blue Oyster Cult folk achieve your dreams...dreams of achieving positions of power throughout this country...along with a few riches thrown on the side from exploitation of the「world inside the television」for the trade of black market goods..."

Buck pressed a finger sharply against Mr. Lupo's cheek, causing him to wince.

"In exchange, we ask that you use your new positions to help cover our... _purgings_."

With the strong emphasis on the last word, Mr. Lupo knew what he was talking about, though he wished he hadn't. It was a dirty secret that the entire AISI and affiliated organizations had been involved in, whether they knew it or not. A secret that would keep him up at night...at least in the beginning.

"In addition to all of that, I had forbidden my fellow Shadow Humans from attacking Stand-users," Buck's eye widened. "Stand-users...like your _family_."

Mr. Lupo felt a cold knife plunge into his heart. The tension around them became worse.

 _ **ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ**_ **...**

"Now you're telling me that a Stand-user, one of your _own_ , is protecting our greatest enemy?" Buck hissed.

"He...he isn't one of us," Mr. Lupo promptly interjected. "If my info is correct, he's with Passione, one of the most powerful gangs in the country. We have no sway over them, not like with the other gangs."

Buck chortled. He ran his hand over his cornrows. "Mr. Lupo...forgive my language...but I frankly don't give a _shit._ "

The sound of rattling chains caused the jazz music playing in the bar to abruptly stop. Like an animal trained to respond to a specific stimuli, Mr. Lupo stiffened at the sound.

He looked to Buck, who had stood up from his seat. He felt the breath get lodged in his throat as he saw that the iris of Buck's single eye turning from blue to gold, glowing along with the light leaking through his eyepatch. Black veins appeared beneath the eyepatch, snaking across his cheek.

His shadow on the wall behind him had changed. It became that of a tall humanoid, its silhouette made distinct by the chains circling close to its body. The shadow had one eye, right where Buck's eyepatch would have been. Both the boy and his monstrous shadow, the shadow of his true form, glared daggers at Mr. Lupo.

For a moment, the AISI director thought he was staring into the face of death.

"Need I remind you Mr. Lupo, that if it wasn't for me, you would have never been able to enjoy the life you enjoy now!"

The boy-monster fanned his arms wide. "And don't think of ever running away from this! We Shadow Humans are everywhere! We have infiltrated every corner of your wretched society! There's nothing you can do, nowhere you can run that isn't above our scrutiny!"

He jabbed a finger at Mr. Lupo. "Your neighbor, your doctor, the kids your children go to school with...Hell, even the garbagemen that make rounds through your neighborhood...they all could be one of _us_. And if I were to rescind my rule that forbids the Shadow Humans from attacking Stand-users…"

Buck leveled a finger at Mr. Lupo's chest. "Well...you better watch your wife and kids close. _Real_ fucking close. _Capisce_?"

His shadow returned to normal. He sat back down and let out a breath, the frustration bleeding out of him.

Mr. Lupo had to work up the courage to address the boy, his nerves a rattled mess. "What...what will you have me do then?"

"What I want?" Buck's demeanor returned to that of a happy, mild-mannered teenager. His grin returned. "It's simple. Send your best Stand-users to deal with this mess. Keep these...Passione was it? Keep these Passione guys off the backs of my guys, up until we take care of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon."

Buck smirked at Mr. Lupo. "And if you don't...well, I don't need to explain that part do I?"

Mr. Lupo only managed a few terrified stutters, before nodding his head like a royal servant.

Buck smiled. "That's a good boy!" He grabbed Mr. Lupo's hand and shook it. The AISI director wish he hadn't, his touch causing him to shiver. "I'm glad we came to an understanding!"

The boy stood up and turned towards the bar's exit. He took a moment to pull out a cigar and place it in his mouth, lighting it by simply rubbing his thumb across it. He blew out a ring of smoke, before looking over his shoulder to Mr. Lupo.

"Now, I'm going to take my leave. The Featherman vs. Pink Dark Boy crossover is airing tonight, and I wouldn't miss that for the world."

He waved with the cigar in between his fingers. "Ciao, Mr. Lupo. I do look forward to working with you again."

As he turned his back on Mr. Lupo, an idea hatched inside the AISI director's mind. An idea brought on by years of despising being the one responsible for doing the Shadow Humans' dirty work and the guilt-ridden anxiety that came along with knowing that he had a hand in personally sweeping disappearances of young men and women under the rug.

He had enough.

 _This motherfucker...he has the balls to think he can order me around like a dog! I'm tired of this shit! I'm the goddamn director of the AISI for fuck's sake!_

A ghostly, partially formed outline appeared behind Mr. Lupo. It reached a hand out, overlapping with his own. He pinched his index finger and thumb together, and the second hand did the same. He pinched his fingers, so that from his perspective, it looked like he was about to squeeze Buck's head from afar.

 _His back is turned...he won't even feel it as I crush his head with my Stand ability, Under Pressure!_

Mr. Lupo's fingers inched closer together, and he could feel the power coursing through them along as the fingers of his Stand mirrored his exact actions.

Buck paused in his tracks without turning back. "Well? Are you going to crush my head or not?"

Mr. Lupo froze.

His fingers flew off his hand.

His eyes went to his hand slowly, staring at the bloody stumps where his thumb and index finger used to be. The pain didn't come until a delayed second later.

"AGH!"

Mr. Lupo rolled off his seat, clutching his hand as he curled on the floor.

"What...what the _fuck_?"

The pain subsided for a fleeting instant, allowing Mr. Lupo's addled mind to process the shadow that fell over him. He looked up and saw the monster standing on the bar counter. A shadowy being encased whitish silver samurai armor with a flowing purple cape. Its face took on the shape of a sleek purple mask tucked beneath a helmet with branching golden horns sprouting from its brow, the sidemost ones approximating the shape of the bartender's eyebrows. The lower half of the mask was covered by a second metal grate layered on top of it, designed in the shape of a tooth-filled demonic maw. Its eyes, yellow and divided by lines, were cemented to Mr. Lupo with a look of utter contempt.

A sleek katana sword was gripped in its clawed hand, tucked into an ornate obsidian and crimson sheath.

 _Son of a bitch...I forgot about the bartender!_

"That was pretty ballsy of you Mr. Lupo, trying to take me out with my back turned," Buck murmured. He looked over his shoulder with a sly grin. "I respect that. I really do."

He waved his cigar at the samurai creature. "This is Rainy Day by the way. He's my right hand man."

The samurai creature jumped off the counter and landed on his feet without making a sound, suggesting a dexterity and lightness that went contradicted his armor-clad appearance. He stabbed the sword into his shadow, where the weapon promptly vanished into the patch of darkness as if there wasn't any solid ground beneath it. The creature's form disappeared in a reverse cocoon of darkness, replaced by the bartender's once more.

The bartender wagged a finger at Mr. Lupo.

Buck stepped forward, and leaned down to face Mr. Lupo.

"Mr. Lupo, because I'm so nice, I'm going to forget you had just made an attempt on my life…"

The boy beamed. "Have a nice night Mr. Lupo...and remember..."

He tapped his chest, his inhuman shadow materializing and rising above him...almost like a Stand.

"Don't fear the Reaper."

Buck snickered, his shadow vanishing as he stood up and made his way out the door, Rainy Day sticking close behind.

Mr. Lupo was left to his own solitude. He was a fool, thinking he could escape the clutches of the monsters that he and the rest of the Blue Oyster sold their souls for. His sliced fingers lying limp on the floor like bloody sausages was evidence enough of that.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

 **Shadow Human Data Profile: Born Slippy**

 **Classification:** Slipping Hablerie-type Shadow Human

 **Arcana:** Magician

 **Human Identity:** Lingua Lucertola

 **Abilities:**

Prehensile Tongue: Born Slippy's tongue is fully prehensile and retractable. It is strong enough to lift two tons and has evolved to be capable of stabbing as hard as any knife or sword.

Wall Scaling: The skin tissue of Born Slippy's hands and feet are covered in specialized microscopic setae similar to a gecko's, allowing it to scale any vertical surface with ease

Superhuman physical attributes: Like all Shadow Humans, Born Slippy has strength, speed, endurance and reflexes far greater than a regular human, with its strength improved several times over its original Shadow form.

Regenerative abilities: Like all Shadow Humans, Born Slippy boasts a powerful regenerative healing factor that allows it to shrug off any conventional injury in a manner of seconds. It is unable to heal however if its mask is damaged sufficiently enough.

Skill: Little Speaker **:** Through this ability, Born Slippy is capable of producing speech bubble-like constructs through its speech, usually through a verbal command. Once a speech bubble is created, anything that touches the speech bubble will be forced to obey that bubble's specific directions. The ability only works if the target is a living organism or entity that understands human speech, and speaks the language the bubble is based on.

* * *

 **Author's notes:**

So here it is, my first chapter after the hiatus. I had meant to get this out sooner, but editing took me far longer than expected given this is the longest chapter yet. I also needed time to recover from the absolutely insane nights I had to pull during work, including two nights in the row where I stayed at the office until 5 a.m. (I really need a new job). With that said, I think I've cleaned up this chapter pretty well through my initial comb over, but given that I edited the chapter right after coming back from the worst six weeks of my life, please feel free to point out any mistakes.

Anyways, there's a lot of things I have to say about this chapter. First and foremost is this is the first chapter where we get the Shadow Humans slightly more fleshed out, including their naming conventions, as well as introductions to a few more bad guys coming down the pipeline.

Secondly, I'm not at all fluent in Japanese. I don't know how to write or speak a word of it. However, I thought this was a unique way for Labrys to get out of Born Slippy's ability. The Japanese phrases through this chapter are based on random translations of phrases I wanted Labrys to speak I found on through simple google searches (yes, I'm a hack, I know). If any my readers can speak and write Japanese, please PLEASE correct me. I'm very OCD about these kinds of things.

Third, I went ahead and did minor touchups to previous chapters. Nothing major, just grammar and sentence tweaks here and there, as well as changing "android" to gynoid". Thank you, ThanosofTitan, for correcting me on that.

Fourth, I decided to try something different for the "Stat" sections this time around. I decided to go the Jojolion route and eschew lettered physical stats in favor of simply listing out the abilities, mainly because I thought the lettered stats added nothing to the characters this time around, especially the Shadow Humans who are all physically strong by default (and thus you would never really see a C or below for physical strength, for example). I've always felt that "Stand-stats" factored little in the actual fights anyway.

I think that's all for now. Thank you all for your patience as I got this chapter out.

Best,  
Beef


	7. What Death Fears

**Chapter 7 - What Death Fears**

 **Rome**

"Here's your medium iced marocchino, signore," The young female barista muttered as she handed the drink to the handsome young man on the other side of the counter. A young man with chain-shaped blonde cornrows and an eyepatch over his right eye that lent him a dashing edge to his otherwise disarming appearance.

"Grazie," The young man replied with a wink. The barista's blush became slightly redder.

The boy's name (you don't need to remember) was Buck Dharma, age twenty five, though due to his youthful features he was often mistaken for a teenager. Despite his name not sounding particularly Italian, he was a born native of Rome, living not too far from the famous Coliseum. He was a cheerful lad, the kind that always got warm smiles and greetings from people around town, though no one really knew who he really was. His charming personality warmed anyone near him like the rays of the sun, yet he had no entourage of friends and was often seen alone by himself.

That's because no one knew who he truly was, and he planned on keeping it that way.

"Have a nice day!" Buck said. He took a sip of his marocchino which he tipped extra for no other reason than he could, then made his way out of the coffee shop, leaving a barista with a fluttering heart in his wake.

Once outside, the young man took a moment to take in his surroundings. He could hear the laughter of children playing in a nearby playground and the casual chatter of friends and couples making their way to the countless shops and cafes dotting the scenic streets all around him. He breathed in the air that carried the scent of fresh flowers, letting out a relaxed sigh.

He stared into the crisp blue skies above as a single thought crossed into his mind.

 _Once the Hyakki Yagyo begins anew...we can finally claim this world as our own._

He emptied his cup in a single sip, then tossed it with pinpoint accuracy into a trash bin several yards without glancing once in its direction. He walked towards the main streets, studying the world around him with the keen interest of an explorer waddling through uncharted territory. Everything that the humans took for granted, from the all encompassing sun shining above to the tiniest drop of dew lingering on the tip of the smallest blade of grass, were absent from the cold, chaotic place that he considered the world of his birth. Sure, sometimes there could be things that _looked_ like the sun and grass in his homeworld, but they were nothing more than mere illusions, pale imitations of the real thing born from the power of the human unconsciousness that ruled his world with an unforgiving iron fist. A fact that was a never ending source of scorn for Buck.

 _Once the Hyakki Yagyo begins anew, Shadows will no longer be puppets to the will of far weaker creatures..._

He stopped mid-thought, halting abruptly in his tracks as a very distinct sound reached his acute ears.

The sound of a woman crying for help.

One coming from the alley just around the corner. Buck walked at a brisk pace to investigate, turning the corner to see three men and the woman cowering in their shadows.

"Screaming isn't going to help you!"

The sound of a slap echoed throughout the alley. The women fell. The men laughed.

Buck let out an annoyed sigh. He didn't know who the woman was, had nothing to do with this...but that didn't stop him from walking towards the group of men with his hands in his pockets. His presence went practically unnoticed, his footsteps quieter than a cat's. In moments, he was close enough for him place his hand on the shoulder of the laughing man who had struck the woman.

"Is there a problem here fellas?"

The thugs stopped laughing and all turned to face Buck. Each of them wore nasty looks on their faces.

"Who...who the fuck are you?" The man whose shoulder his hand landed growled.

Buck shrugged. "I'm just a nobody really. A nobody who just happened to hear a woman screaming for help being harassed by three rather unscrupulous-looking individuals."

He shot a sideways glance at the woman. She was bleeding from the nose, and there was a ring of purple around one eye. Her eyes were filled with fear and worry, though he could tell part of that was for him, the scrawny teenager about to draw the ire of the three violent, far larger brutes around him.

One of the other men slowly walked behind Buck, blocking his exit from the alley. Another spat a loogie towards the dirty, graffiti-smothered wall. He cracked his knuckles and shifted to Buck's side.

"Look kid," The thug Buck was touching said. "I'm about ten seconds away from rearranging your face if you don't take your hand off me now."

Buck tilted his head. "Rearrange my face? How can you rearrange a face? I'm not a doctor, but there's rigid bone and muscle packed under that skin."

The men traded perplexed glances at each other, no doubt perplexed by Buck's strange diatribe.

Buck smiled. "Also...don't tell me you're planning on rearranging my face with your hand are you?"

The man blinked, then smiled back, revealing several of his teeth having been replaced with gold.

"You dumb bastard."

He raised his arm, poised for a punch, then paused as he heard a sickening crack. He became pale, his eyes widening with bags visible around them as he turned to look at his hand.

A hand whose fingers were all broken and bent at angles to expose shards of bone, with a bloody stump where the pinky used to be.

Buck grin widened. He held up the man's still bleeding pinky in his hand.

"You can't rearrange my face with your hand...if you can't use that hand to begin with, right?"

Buck tossed the pinky away like a used cigarette.

The man's scream was louder than the woman's once his tiny brain registered the pain. He crumpled to the floor, whimpering like a puppy being kicked in the ribs.

"Bastard!" The man behind Buck charged him from behind with a speedy left hook. Buck dodged with a casual sidestep, causing the man to strike his companion's face instead, sending the latter tumbling back with a pained growl.

 _Humans...what a hopeless species._

The man turned around, face twisted with fury. He threw himself at Buck. Buck responded by raising his hand and flicking the man across the forehead. The man flying backwards into the wall. Teeth and blood flew from his face as he dropped onto the ground. He didn't get up.

The woman gasped. The man who was struck by his friend's punch rose up on trembling legs. Something glinted in his hand. Buck narrowed his eyes at the object.

 _A knife? Really?_

"Y-you son of a bitch!"

The man ran forward with the knife. Buck didn't dodge, not because he couldn't but rather because he couldn't be bothered. The knife tore through Buck's clothes, causing a ripping sound. A deranged smile appeared across the man's face.

"Ha! Gotcha ya bastard!"

Buck looked at the knife stuck to his chest rather nonchalantly, then turned to the man. "You sure about that?"

The man's smile disappeared, his eyebrows raised. He pulled the knife away...only for the blade to crumble into pieces. The man stared dumbstruck at the handle that used to be his knife.

"Wha...what the fuck?"

Buck brushed his jacket. The hole on his clothes made by the knife only showed flesh underneath with no wound in sight.

He knew the man couldn't even see the red and white box growing out of his knife handle, displaying the percentage "- **50%** " next to the words " **EN/DURABILITY"**. He was a normal human after all, no presence of a Stand or Persona on him as far as Buck could tell. And only those marked by the supernatural could see the「stat-box」 created by his「Skill」ability.

"We done here?" Buck whispered.

The man barely managed to tear his eyes away in time from the broken knife when Buck grabbed the front of his shirt, then threw him into a wall. He fell limp to the ground, joining his comrade into the realm of unconsciousness.

There was only one thug remaining. Buck looked over his shoulder to see the man whose pinky he took stand back up. His eyes were no longer filled with fear but rage, his skin as pale from the blood loss. He was practically foaming at the mouth, his face slick with sweat. In his only remaining good hand left was a rather large gun, its barrel glistening under the light of the mid-morning day.

Buck recognized the make of the weapon.

 _A .44 Smith & Wesson Magnum. Too good of a gun for the likes of a lowly thug like him. What a waste._

"Die you piece of shit!"

Buck stepped forward and smacked the gun away before the man even came close to pulling the trigger. Luckily, it didn't go off by accident, bouncing off the wall and falling to the ground with only a quiet clatter. He didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention if he could help it.

The man clearly wanted to scream, but only managed a few gasping chokes as Buck inched his face towards his. Hopeless despair came to fill the man's eyes.

"That won't work on the likes of me."

Buck punched the man in the stomach. The man gargled and became limp as he lurched forward. Buck stepped out of the way to let the man fall.

 _Because there's nothing in this world that can surpass me now._

Buck ruffled the collar of his jacket. He turned his attention to the woman, who was a state of both awe and shock. She was clearly terrified...not of the men who lay on the ground but of the one-eyed boy that took them down effortlessly.

Buck bent low and offered his hand to her. "You alright?"

The woman blinked at him. Her trembling lips eventually gave an answer.

"Y-Yes…"

Buck helped the woman to her feet. Like anyone that came near him, she quickly became at ease in his presence.

"T-thank you," The woman managed a smile.

Buck smiled back. "No need to thank me. I haven't had breakfast yet."

The woman stopped smiling. "What?"

Black veins erupted around Buck's eyepatch. A gust of unnatural wind tore through the alleyway, blowing away the piece of cloth to reveal his hidden eye. An insect-like eye surrounded by veins, glowing with a supernatural golden light, its surface divided in a series of vertical lines.

His form vanished in a cocoon of darkness with the woman still in his arms, replaced by the form of the monster he truly was. A monster with a single glowing eye and a torso surrounded by chains.

The woman was too shocked to scream, paralyzed by fear. Her hand trembled in the grasp of the icy gun barrels that formed the monster's fingers.

A smiling mouth appeared on the monster's shadow cloaked face. He spoke with a voice far deeper than the boy who had stood in his place only seconds before. "You're not a Persona user, nor are those three other guys...but you'll do."

The monster licked his unseen lips, briefly exposing his sharp teeth. The woman's screams was drowned out by the sound of rattling chains filled the alleyway, followed by a wet sickening crunch that silenced the woman for good.

* * *

Buck stifled a burp as he walked out of the alleyway. He looked over his shoulder to see that there was nothing left of the woman or the men he had consumed, no traces that they had ever been there at all. It was if they had been wiped out of existence entirely.

His kind liked to keep a low profile, and that resulted in a unique feeding method that left no evidence of the deed once it was done.

 _The guys tasted a bit too dry for my tastes...but that woman hit the spot._

He stepped out of the alley, then paused as he noticed a man standing across the street from him, laying against a lamp post.

He was an Asian fellow with eyebrows that ended in sharp edges like blades. The entire lower half of his face was covered by a surgical mask decorated with the outline of a red, fanged demonic mouth. He wore a white suit and tie which wouldn't have looked out of place in a Japanese Yakuza flick.

Buck's senses picked up on the man before his eyes even fell on him. He could sense he was a kindred spirit. A fellow Shadow Human.

He looked both ways before crossing the street towards the man.

"Rainy Day," Buck said with a nod as he walked up to the man.

The man nodded back in acknowledgment.

"So…you don't usually show yourself in the open like this. I'm assuming you have something to tell me."

Rainy Day spoke, his tone sophisticated and gentle like that of a highly trained butler. "It's the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, Mietitore-senpai. One of our own has sighted her leaving Venice with her new Stand-users acquaintances towards Trieste. We believe they may be planning to hide there to escape our agents."

Buck's eyes went wide upon hearing Rainy Day's words. He bit the lower half of his lip.

"Is there any of our agents near the area?"

Rainy Day nodded. "There is one in particular that I'm familiar with. His name is Peach Fuzz."

Buck narrowed his eye at Rainy Day. "Peach Fuzz? Not exactly a threatening name."

"The humans know him as Bomboloni Ciambella, a local hero cop," Rainy Day explained. "His name stems from the Shadow he was once before. A Bribed Fuzz."

"A Bribed Fuzz?" Buck frowned and rubbed his chin. "They're not a particularly noteworthy breed of Shadow. You sure this guy can take on the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon and the Stand-users she's with?"

"He might've been weak as a Shadow...but as a Shadow Human, his assassination technique is second to none, especially when his Skill ability is involved. He's already tracking the whereabouts of the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon within the city as we speak."

"Second to none you say?" Buck muttered, his tone still holding traces of skepticism.

His mind went back to the night on the Ponta della Liberta, when he had the Anti-Shadow Suppression's life in his grasp. He growled as he remembered what had transpired next.

"Need I remind you, Rainy Day, of what happened _that_ night?"

Rainy Day fixed his tie. He cleared his throat, though he showed no outward signs of nervousness.

"I'm fully aware of that fact senpai. Which is why Peach Fuzz isn't going in alone."

Buck's eyebrow raised.

"Mr. Lupo sent one of his assassins from the Blue Oyster Cult to serve as backup to Peach Fuzz, in case those Stand-users she's with decides to get involved. Someone that apparently Mr. Lupo has assured me will get the job done."

Buck weighed Rainy Day's words. He sucked in a breath.

"I hope these guys are really as good as you claim them to be Rainy Day. I really do. Because even I can't tell what kind of monster the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon is turning into because of the Arrow lodged in her damned heart."

* * *

 **Trieste - Passione Safehouse**

"Ah! Mila-san, is this really necessary?" Labrys squirmed on her wooden chair as she felt E'nuff Z'nuff's slimy underbelly rub against her synthetic flesh.

"Relax...it's for your own good," Mila replied.

Labrys flinched as the gangster pushed the chiton closer to her cheek. She wished she had been installed with the option to turn off her sensory inputs so she could numb herself to a sensation that could best be described as a mucus covered sheet of sandpaper being pressed against her skin.

"There, all better," Mila smiled.

To Labrys's relief, she pulled the chiton away and placed it back inside the portable container that served as its current home and transport before she could be grossed out by it further.

"See? It wasn't so bad was it?"

Labrys stuck out her tongue. "You kiddin'? How'd you like it if a big ol' slug thing was writhing around your face?"

Mila chuckled. "Never realized robots could be grossed out. That disproves my theory that your the vanguard of some alien invasion. They wouldn't have made a vanguard so squeamish."

Labrys was about to say something back, when she noticed that her cut in her cheek was gone. Her damage meter fell to a flat 0%. She reached for her cheek to make sure, and found only smooth skin where the cut should have been.

"Amazing. The cut's gone!"

"Of course the cut's gone. E'nuff Z'nuff ain't a slouch with her Stand. It's a good thing too that her Stand is coincidentally one that could patch you up like all the broken cars she's fixed."

Labrys studied the container by Mila's feet where the chiton rested. Before the group left Venice, Fugo personally requested E'nuff Z'nuff to be brought with them in a specially designed container that was essentially a compact, lightweight aquarium designed for ease of carrying. She was glad he did.

 _Huh...I guess they weren't kiddin' when they said that E'nuff Z'nuff was what healed my injuries. Injuries that I can't even remember ever sustainin'._

Mila got off the bed and went to open a window to the safehouse. Labrys had expected something like a warehouse when they mentioned a place they could hide in for the time being, not a moderately sized two-story house with all the related amenities. The house was more on the old-fashioned side, like the kind seen in classical paintings of the countryside. From Labrys's scans, it was built like one too, with the simplest of electrical systems.

"Fugo should be back soon," Mila scrunched her nose as she looked to the world outside. A stray breeze caused the curtains to flutter. "Though I don't know where that bird went."

Upon hearing Fugo's name, she tightened on her seat. She looked down to the floor, her fingers clenching tight against the torn jeans that was part of her disguise.

" _Fugo-san…"_

Her heart was heavy with guilt. Guilt over Fugo's friend who had died because of that monster that came looking for her in the cafe. Guilt over the back that he, Mila and Lynyrd all had a target painted on her backs because of her.

As much as she tried to fight it, the monster's words repeated themselves in her mind.

" _You...you bastards better get used to looking over your shoulders everywhere you go from here on out...because my_ _「_ _brothers and sisters_ _」_ _will be hunting you wherever you go!"_

"Hey, you alright? You lookin' kinda spooked. And I'm pretty sure Passione got this house non-haunted."

Labrys turned to Mila.

"Mila-san...is Fugo angry at me?"

"Angry?" Mila scratched her forehead. "He can lose his temper when beatin' up a guy that deserves it, but why would he be angry at you?"

"It's because of me that Tiramisu died," Labrys's voice became shaky. "And you heard what that monster said right?"

She looked away. She couldn't bring herself to look in Mila's eyes. "It's because of me that you guys are in danger."

Mila remained silent. Then, moments later, she suddenly broke out in loud laughter. Labrys was taken aback that the woman could find humor in a rather serious, solemn moment.

"Labrys, there's somethin' you gotta realize. Bein' in mortal danger and gettin' ambushed by a group of assassins with somethin' weird about em' is pretty much just another day at the office for us gangsters."

She walked towards Labrys and sat herself down in a seat besides hers. She placed a hand on the gynoid's shoulder. "I can't tell you how many times me, or Fugo...or hell even Lynyrd got ambushed on a random evening just cuz of a Stand-user with a beef with the gang."

She smirked. "Now, I admit, these Shadow Humans fella are somethin' that I don't think anyone in Passione has ever dealt with, but that creepy Born Slippy asshole still went down at the end of the day like all the other dumb bastards that tried pickin' a fight with the gang. They aren't invincible, and there's no way we'd let any of them touch a hair on your head."

She sighed, then looked to the far wall of the room. "Tiramisu was a good kid, but what happened to him wasn't your fault. Never think that. None of us saw Born Slippy comin'."

She looked back at Labrys. "So don't think about it too much okay?" She grinned. "I like you better when you're some badass robot chick who can punch monsters through walls, not when you're mopin' around."

Labrys found herself managing a smile back. As eccentric Mila was, the gynoid found comfort in the gangster's words, in her company.

Still, there was a thought nagging her.

"Mila-san...why would you guys so willing to do all of this for me? For someone who've you've only met?"

"Hmmm?" Mila placed her hands on the back of her head and leaned back on her chair to stair at the ceiling. "Will that's simple. If we didn't, our boss would probably kill us and stuff our body parts into separate glass boxes, then mail them to all of our friends and loved ones."

Labrys nearly fell over her seat. She turned to Mila with a dropped jaw.

"W...what?"

"Ha! Just kiddin'," Mila slapped Labrys on her back with her gloved arm. The slap was a little bit harder than the gynoid imagined, indicating the arm was stronger than she had thought. "Our boss Giorno wouldn't do somethin' like that. He's nothin' like the guy he defeated to get the spot of Passione's don."

Mila turned to Labrys. "Relax will ya? Ya gotta stop takin' what I say so seriously."

Labrys puffed her cheeks. "How can I, when everythin' you say is so darn crazy?"

Mila tapped her chin. "Ya know what? Ya got a point."

A fluttering of wings drew the attention of both women to the windowsill, where Lynyrd sat.

"Ladies," The bird bowed. Labrys noticed that he had something in his beak, which was why his words were slightly muffled.

"There you are, you stupid bird," Mila sat up and walked towards the cockatoo. "Where you've been?"

"I made a trip," Lynyrd placed the object in his beak into his claw, holding it up and causing it to glisten from the sunlight hitting it from behind. "To the Ponte della Liberta."

Labrys's hearing sensors perked up at the mention of the bridge Fugo forbade them from going to.

"What?" Mila placed a hand on her hip, clearly annoyed. "Didn't Fugo say not to go there?"

"He did," Lynyrd replied. "He had point when he said that signorina Labrys's enemies may be expecting her at the place she's been before."

The bird tapped his head, his feather mohawk extending. "But no one would care about a bird like me, especially considering all the countless pigeons and crows that flock around the bridge on a daily basis."

Mila looked like he was about to throw a sarcastic remark at the bird, but couldn't. "That's...actually pretty smart."

Lynyrd smiled. "Of course. Fugo isn't the only one in our crew with an IQ of 152 you know."

Mila shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Don't get so full of yourself."

She pointed to the object in the bird's grasp. "So...what'd you find?"

With the dexterity of a human hand, Lynyrd flicked the object towards Mila, who caught it with her gloved hand.

Labrys sat up from the bed. "What is it Mila-san?"

Mila scrunched her nose as she studied the object, turning it in her hand.

"What is this thing? A「bloody button」?"

* * *

 **The Streets of Trieste**

" _So, you guys made it to the safehouse okay?"_

"Yeah we did," Fugo said into the pay phone. He couldn't risk using his phone, or any type of cell phone for that matter, one that could be tracked easily. He didn't know if the Shadow Humans could track people like that, but he wasn't about to risk it considering any normal human with the technical no how could. "Did you receive the sample, Murolo?"

" _I did...and I still can't believe your crazy story. You tellin' me the things after Labrys are genuine shape-shifting monsters?"_

"It isn't the most insane thing we've dealt with. Have you forgotten vampires are a thing?"

Murolo sighed. " _Don't remind me. I was the one they sent to destroy that Stone Mask that Volpe's flunkies had remember?"_

Bittersweet memories of the mission that granted him a spot back into the gang flooded Fugo's mind. "Yeah...I remember."

" _Anyways...I didn't have a chance to look into the sample yet. I'll try to find something as soon as possible, but considering we're dealing with an undiscovered species here, it might take some time._ "

"I understand," Fugo said. "Just contact me as soon as you find something."

" _Will do. And Fugo…?"_

"Yes Murolo?"

" _You guys stay safe."_

"Will do."

He hung the phone up, then walked away with his hands in his pockets. Like any good capo, his mind was always full of thoughts. Thoughts of how to keep his comrades and Labrys safe. Thoughts of how to complete the mission.

Thoughts of the new enemy he has to face.

 _Stand-users are one thing. At the end of the day, they are just as frail as any human once you get past their Stands. But these Shadow Human guys...they're strong and resilient, far more than the average Stand-user. Luckily...it seems they have a glaring weakness in the form of their masks._

He turned a corner, walking towards the safehouse. He paused on the street, taking a moment to further think.

 _Still...that Born Slippy...he took several of Purple Haze's virus and still survived. No one has ever done that before. Can't imagine what the rest of his kind is like. And we still haven't a clue on where they came from, or what they want with the Arrow stuck in Labrys's heart-_

A blaring of a siren snapped Fugo out of his snaps. He recognized the siren as that belonging to a police cruiser. One of the worst things a gangster could hear when trying to keep a low profile, second only to gunshots.

"Excuse me young man, what do you think you're doing?" Said a nearly toneless voice.

Fugo sighed. He didn't have time to deal with this nuisance. He turned towards the cop that called him out, who was staring at him from the inside of his police cruiser. His face was hidden in the shadows.

"Um...walking?"

The man lifted his head, granting Fugo a better look at him. He was thin, his cheekbones visibly tight against his skin to give him a gaunt appearance. He tilted his hat upward, retracting the shadows that had covered his piercing green eyes.

He gave Fugo the cold stare of a predator, but the gangster wasn't intimidated. Only a low level thug would be intimidated by a single cop, not a respected capo of Passione.

"Don't tell me there's a law against walking now, officer."

The cop remained stoic, so Fugo couldn't tell if he was actually annoyed by his purposefully condescending tone or not. He pointed to the sign near Fugo, one the gangster only now noticed. The words "No Loitering" was displayed in big, bold letters.

"Oh that?" Fugo scratched the back of his head. "Didn't see it till now officer."

The cop began to scribble on something.

Fugo grinned. "Oh come on, I was only here for a few seconds. Besides, they never say what length of time must pass for a person to be considering loitering, so how am I supposed to kno-"

The cop suddenly threw something at Fugo. The gangster quickly snatched it out of the air before it could hit him. His heart slightly pounded from the cop's almost ninja-like action.

"That ticket is due within two weeks," The cop tilted his hat, his expression remaining stone-like. "Have a nice day sir."

The cop sped off, leaving a very confused Fugo in his wake.

"What the hell is up with that cop?"

Fugo opened his palm, to see the piece of paper that the cop had thrown at him. A ticket, with a clearly printed fine of nine thousand lira for loitering and obstruction of justice.

"Obstruction of justice?" Fugo scoffed. "Get yourself asshole."

Knowing he wasn't going to pay the ticket, he would've tossed it like away until he noticed that there was a hole inside the ticket, tucked between the letters and numbers. A hole with noticeably blackened edges

 _A hole? The dumbass can't even afford to use good paper? It looks like he had target practice with it._

He threw away the ticket and turned to the direction of the safe house.

 _I lingered long enough. Can't have the others worrying about me-_

Something itched in his palm. Something wet and warm dripped down his sleeve.

Fugo paused, looking down at his hand. It was thankfully no longer covered in bandages as Lynyrd's Stand did a good job of healing the injuries left by his own Stand's virus, despite it not being its primary ability and wasn't as quite as good as Giorno's healing power.

So it came as quite a shock when the gangster saw a bleeding, nearly perfectly circular hole at the center of his palm.

"What the…"

The gangster blinked.

Once he opened his eyes again, he saw that there were now _two_ holes on his palm.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I had this chapter lingering for a while on my hard drive, but couldn't get around to actually finishing it because...*sigh*...you guessed it, work commitments.

I took in some criticisms I had earlier when writing this chapter, namely that I made Mila's personality a bit too abrasive. Keeping that in mind, I toned her down a bit in this chapter. I also plan to re-do her introduction in her debut chapter a little bit to address the criticisms, but didn't have time to given the time commitment I had spent on this chapter as well as work I had to get done over the weekend. It won't be a complete rewrite of her character, and the story will pretty much remain the same. I probably will make those edits along with some house-keeping (i.e grammar checks and all that other jazz) in a future update, when I'm (hopefully) over the busiest weeks of my job and have more personal time for myself.

Now to actually talk about this chapter.

This chapter has a relatively short word count, but I hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless with more on our mysterious one-eyed bad guy and the lead up to the next encounter.

Other than that, I can't thank the readers who've been sticking with this story despite my very very _very_ erratic update schedule.

Thanks,

Beef


	8. Finger on the Trigger Part 1

**Please read the author's notes for this one.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8 - Finger on the Trigger Part 1**

Fugo stared at the new hole that had materialized in his palm. It had the same exact dimensions as the first hole, with blood trailing out of it just like its twin. Such an abnormal sight would have stunned a lesser mind, but Fugo's was honed through countless encounters with the most ridiculous of abilities. He recognized an attack when he saw one, no matter how unorthodox the attack was. His mind instantly recalled the ticket the police officer gave him, and how it had a hole in it, one very much like the ones now on his flesh.

 _That cop...that bastard had an ability…_

Fugo swallowed. He clenched his wounded fist to put what little pressure he could on the bleeding and stared out towards where Labrys was.

 _Son of a bitch. That cop drove off into the direction of where Labrys is. The bastard isn't a Stand user...or he could be one of those Shadow Human freaks!_

The gangster wasted no second in taking off into the direction of the safehouse, his mind set on reaching his destination before his assailant did. He knew he couldn't outrun a police cruiser, so he was already on the wire. The thought only compelled to run faster.

Only, he had to stop. He only managed to clear a block before being hit with an abrupt shortness of breath. He felt his strength partially sapped, enough for him to have to lean against a wall for support. He became slightly light-headed, the edges of his vision blurry.

He exhaled slowly as he reached for his face with trembling fingers. "What...what the hell is this?"

He noticed his sleeve was entirely wet. He shivered as he raised his clenched fist. He opened it, to find his palm smothered with blood, and a reason why. There were now five holes instead of two, and all of them were bleeding.

Fugo went as white as a sheet. "Shit."

He now knew the purpose of his attacker's ability. It was a slow but certain killer, one designed to achieve one goal: to completely bleed out its victims. He clenched his teeth, but forced himself to not give into panic, for that would only make things worse. His gifted mind thought through the situation methodologically, unhindered by the direness of the situation.

 _A human being can lose about 40% of their blood, or roughly 2,000 mL, before the body loses enough oxygen to no longer support life. Judging by the rate my blood is pouring out, I only have five minutes if I don't stop the bleeding somehow!_

He looked down and saw the only thing of use. He ripped the bloodied sleeve of his suit and wrapped it around his palm in a makeshift gauze, making sure the knot was tight enough to buy him some more time.

He glanced around the street, realizing running was no longer an option. His remaining strength had become precious. He couldn't risk overexerting himself, less he makes the effects of the bleeding worse, which meant he had to commandeer some transportation, something he was used to doing as a gangster and general delinquent.

His eyes fell upon a motorbike, parked right near a street sign to his immediate right. In front of it was a man around Fugo's height, clad in a dark green leather jacket, his back turned and his face obscured by a sleek bike helmet. Around his waist was wrapped a checkered uniform of sorts, along with, strangely enough, two long sheaths.

He ran to the man without a second thought.

"Hey you!"

The man turned around. He stared at Fugo without saying a word, his eyes unseen behind the pitch-black visor.

"Sorry, but I'm going to need that bike. It's an emergency."

The man tilted his head, scanning the gangster from top to bottom. He remained silent, which annoyed Fugo.

"Look asshole, if you don't lend me your bike," Fugo clenched his fist. "I'm going to take some of your teeth. Capisce?"

The man continued to stare. He tilted his head towards the red-tinged scrap of cloth wrapped around Fugo's hole-filled hand. He looked back at Fugo and finally spoke. His voice was nasally like a teenager's, his Italian broken but understandable.

"That's not gonna happen pal."

An overwhelming mass of pressure suddenly slammed down on Fugo's body, forcing him down onto all fours. The gangster gritted his teeth and tried to move against what felt like a giant invisible hand pinning him to the pavement. He managed to tilt his head up against the pressure to stare daggers at the man.

"Who...who the hell are you?"

The biker tilted his head down at Fugo, who could _feel_ the contemptuous glare he was given even if he couldn't see it. He reached for his helmet with his gloved hands and removed it, revealing the face of a young Asian man with fiery red hair and unusually blue eyes. His most noticeable feature had to have been the X-shaped scar across his face, a remnant of some harrowing battle or mishap perhaps. His mouth was curled into a cocky smirk.

"The name is Sho. Sho Minazuki."

A shadowy figure appeared behind the boy's back. The silhouette of its head contained the distinct shape of a crescent that fanned outward like a horn, parts of it oozing into nothing above it as if it was in a constant state of liquefaction. It glowered at Fugo with red eyes set inside the sockets of a gold, mouthless faceplate, glowing like small suns. Its body was clad in a strange red and green coat with multiple flaps that pranced in the wind, while the body itself was black with white, vertical stripes. In its hand was a sword, its black blade having the same constantly evaporating effect like its moon-shaped horn.

The boy pulled at his sheaths, revealing the sleek, long swords that was housed in them. They were shaped like katanas, though their handles had triggers and finger grips more akin to those found on modern military-grade firearms. He bounced one sword on his shoulders while pointing the other one at Fugo.

"What's the matter? Feelin' under pressure?"

* * *

"Does this mean anythin' to you?" Mila tossed the bloody button to Labrys. The robot caught it and studied it.

"No, not really," Labrys replied. "It just looks like an ol' button to me."

Mila sighed. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "Great. We're back to square one."

"Perhaps not," Lynyrd chimed in, flapping to perch on a nearby chair.

Mila turned to the bird. "You got an idea in that big bird brain of yours?"

"Ms. Schon, think about it. There's blood on that button. However crusted that blood may be, it contains DNA."

The bird tapped his head. "DNA that could be analyzed."

Mila frowned. "Alright fair point. But we don't exactly have a blood lab lyin' around, do we?"

"No, but we do have her."

Labrys realized Lynyrd was twerking his head her way. Mila followed the bird's gesture towards the gynoid.

"Her?"

"Yes, her. Have you forgotten that she has the most sophisticated technology on the planet installed in that unassuming exterior of hers?"

"Um...it isn't that sophisticated," Labrys meekly replied.

"Well, it is sophisticated enough for you to practically learn everything about something by just looking at it once," Lynyrd raised a wing. "Fugo told me everything. It was how you learned our language so quickly, was it not?"

Labrys nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh right," Mila rubbed her nose. "Forgot you can do that. Pretty dang convenient. I'm seriously jealous."

Labrys supposed it was convenient. Had it not been for her database and ability to scan things on the fly and match it to whatever information she had in it, her amnesia would've rendered her even more helpless. She stared at the button again with renewed interest as she focused her sensors on the tiny object.

She wish she hadn't.

The moment she did, her database had a signature match with something she saw in her corrupted memory files. A hazy figure surrounded by distorted static...everywhere except its single golden eye.

Almost immediately, she buckled over in pain as the memory decrypted, jolting her CPU like a lightning bolt. A migraine hit her as the memory forced itself upon her, Instantly, she was transported out of the room, and onto a large bridge under a murky night.

* * *

" _I admire your tenacity...I really do. But you're a fool if you think you can halt the_ _ **「**_ _inevitable_ _ **」**_ _, Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon."_

 _A loud flash rocked Labrys's vision as the one-eyed creature fired a shot into her stomach._

 _She let out a growl of pain as something hard punched into her stomach._

 _But it didn't strike through her as she had thought, didn't land a fatal blow. Rather, she was fine._

 _She looked down and saw a large fist had erupted out of her stomach, its fingers clenched tight around her attacker's hand. It wasn't an arm she recognized as belonging to her Persona, as it was nearly completely black instead of white and silver like Ariadne's. It was sheathed in chains to give it a more aggressive appearance, its fingers ending in segmented, bone-pale plates that ended in sharp claws. Gun smoke leaked through the spaces between the fingers, the hand having blocked the creature's blast._

 _Strangely, Labrys's found that the Evoker device inside her wasn't activate, so the arm definitely didn't belong to a Persona. It had materialized without her knowing, lacking the flair of a Persona summoning. One moment it wasn't there and the next it was, drawn out like a sword acting on its own to reflexively defend its wielder._

 _The peculiarity of the arm was not lost on the creature, who studied the eye curiously with his one eye. "How...curious."_

 _The hand squeezed. The creature's fingers broke with a loud snap, causing him to let out a bloodcurdling roar, the first damage he has been dealt since Labrys first encountered him. He threw the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon, causing her to roll across the slick pavement of the bridge._

 _Labrys moaned and sat up. She rubbed her sore and slightly cracked neck and instinctively sucked in breaths she didn't need, inhaling out of reflex. The arm had vanished from her stomach just as sudden as it had appeared._

 _She looked up in time to see the monster holding up his hand, glaring at its broken fingers with its enlarged yellow eye. The eye flicked to Labrys._

" _I don't believe it. The Arrow has granted you_ 「 _new abilities_ 」 _the same it did to me!"_

 _The creature sniffed the air. He growled._

" _I knew it...the thing that crushed my hand. It reeks of the influence of the Arrow. It's a_ 「 _Stand_ 」 _, not a Persona!"_

" _Stand?" Labrys whispered, the volume of her voice restricted by the tightness lingering around her throat. "What...what the hell are you talkin' about?"_

 _The creature didn't give an answer before he charged, his other hand raised, poised to fire. The chains around him rattled uncontrollably as he ran towards her._

" _I have to eliminate you now! The Arrow has made you a far greater enemy than I had imagined!"_

 _Labrys raised her hand at the oncoming creature. She was weak, but she had no control over her actions that were driven entirely by her will to survive._

 _She was seconds away from launching her chain fist before she was stopped by a loud bang that tore through the air. The creature stopped as flashes of gunfire struck him in the chest._

" _Get away from her!"_

 _The voice came from behind. She looked back and saw her sister, Aigis, standing behind her. She held her arm straight, her fingers smoking. She was heavily injured, with cracks and wounds all over her body that oozed the same kind of oil that came out of Labrys's. Her other arm hung limp to her side, and one of her eyes were closed as a line of oil dripped down upon it._

 _The creature looked at his chest. It smoked...and nothing more. There was no wound, despite Aigis's bullets being designed specifically to be strong enough to puncture through Shadows._

 _But it wasn't entirely ineffective. A tiny object dropped from the creature's coat and onto the bridge, shot off by one of Aigis's stray bullets. Labrys's vision zoomed in on the object, where she saw that it was a single button, stained by the creature's blood._

 _The creature looked up at Aigis. Then, the whites of its teeth appeared, coming together to form the shape of a grin._

" _Well well well. I thought I had taken care of you," The creature popped his neck. He raised his hand, whereby his fingers began to snap back into place on their own accord. He flexed his hand and clenched it into a fist, which had become good as new. "But I guess you prefer to die together with your sister, don't you?"_

 _He held his arms to his side, his fingers lengthening, clicking like revolvers as he flicked them, one by one. "I can oblige."_

 _He clenched his knuckles and flexed each one of the gun barrels that constituted his fingers. He flapped his coat behind him and assumed a pose that reminded Labrys of the one assumed by the gunslingers in one of the spaghetti Western movies that Akihiko showed her._

" _Those gun-hands of seem to have a pretty rapid rate of fire, though I reckon mine are quicker on the draw," The creature narrowed his eyes. A cross-hair appeared in where its pupil would have been. "This is exciting...it's as if I'm in a Sierra Leone Western. Let's see which one of us is the faster gun, machine."_

 _Labrys looked at her sister. Her eyes were filled with a fierce determination. As hurt as she was, it was evident she wasn't about to back down from the fight. Even if it was a fight with a being they knew that neither of them could win against, not without help._

 _Then her sister stared at her, and she saw a tinge of sadness in her pale blue eyes._

" _Don't look back and run. Get word out to Kirijo-san and the others. They must know of the threat residing in this country."_

 _She glared back at the creature, who had remained as still as a statue, calmly stuck in his pose. "A threat even greater than Hi-No-Kagutsuchi."_

 _Before Labrys could say anything, the memory ended, right as Aigis fired into the beast and the beast fired back._

* * *

Labrys's vision snapped back into the interior of the safehouse. She saw Mila and Lynyrd looking at her with concern.

"Signorina, are you alright?"

Labrys shook her head, along with the last lingering details of the sudden memory being unlocked. Her human mannerisms caused her chest to heave as she recovered from her shock.

"I'm...I'm fine," Labrys wiped her forehead. She held up the button. "This...when I scanned this, one of my memory files decrypted itself."

"In English?" Mila said.

"It means she remembered something the instant she scanned that button," Lynyrd replied. "Looks like Fugo's hunch was correct, that seeing something from the bridge would help you remember."

"Yeah," Mila placed her hand on her hip. "Only it looks like whatever she remembered, she didn't _want_ to remember."

"It's fine, really," Labrys murmured. She looked up at both bird and human, hesitant to recall what she had just remembered. "I know where this button came from."

She saw that Mila and Lynyrd waited for her to answer with baited breath. She looked back to the button in her hands, her fingers trembling.

"This button...came from their **「** king **」**."

Mila raised an eyebrow. "King? Whose king?"

Labrys clenched the button in her fist. She answered Mila without looking at her.

"The king of the Shadow Humans."

Silence came over Mila and Lynyrd as they stared at Labrys in disbelief. It took them a few blinks each before they could register what Labrys had just said.

"The King of the Shadow Humans," Mila repeated. "You mean those freaks have a leader? _And you've met him_?"

"Trust me Mila-san, I'd rather not have."

"Do you know anything more about him?" Lynyrd asked.

Labrys shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't know much. All I know was he was the one to have hurt me on the Ponte della Liberta."

"Can you tell us what he looks like at least?" Mila pressed.

Labrys thought back to her glimpses of the creature in her memory, doing her best to recall whatever murky details she could. A difficult task, given that the only few times that she glimpsed the creature, it was obscured by darkness. However, there were a few details that stuck out, ones that were unforgettable.

She ran her hands around her torso. "He has these chains constantly floating around his body…"

She pointed to her left eye. "He only has one eye."

She held up a hand and grabbed at her wrist. "And he has...these guns for fingers."

Mila pursed her lips. "Well that makes things easy. Not a lot of one-eyed, chain-wearin' guys with guns for fingers around these parts."

"Do you know anything else about this so-called King, signorina Labrys?" Lynyrd inquisitively asked.

"I don't even know his name. All I can give you is bits and pieces of his appearance from what I've seen of him."

Labrys suddenly looked up as she recalled more from her memory.

"There was something else. I remembered someone bein' on the bridge with me when I was attacked by the king. A girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, who was built like me."

Mila raised an eyebrow. "Built...like you?"

"Yeah," Labrys slowly murmured. "I definitely could tell...she's a machine like me."

"Another mechanical maiden?" Lynyrd stroked his chin inquisitively.

"Yes. But there's more. She talked about gettin' word out to someone called 'Kirijo-san'...whoever that is."

"Kirijo?" Mila interjected. "Hey, isn't that the name of the company that Murolo fou-"

Before Mila could finish, something fast and tiny whizzed through the open window, striking her in the arm. The woman dropped to the ground, hissing in pain.

"Mila!" Labrys immediately crouched to her.

Lynyrd squawked, flying around the room.

"We're under attack!"

The bird flew close to the ceiling, lingering over the broken window. He stared down at Labrys, hunched over Mila. "You two! Get to safety!"

Labrys stiffened. She stared in shock at the gaping hole in Mila's forearm where she had been struck. Her arm warmer had been partially shredded away, revealing what was underneath.

An arm made of chrome metal.

"Fuck," Mila groaned. She raised her arm and stared at the hole that punctured through its surface, along with the sparking circuitry underneath. "I got really lucky there. Good thing it only nicked my prosthetic."

She hissed towards the window. "But the damn thing is supposed to be bulletproof! Either I just got shot with a round from an anti-tank rifle, or I got seriously swindled when I got this thing!"

Labrys couldn't stop staring at Mila's robotic limb as she stood up. "Mila-san...what's with your arm?"

Mila turned to Labrys. "It's a long story…"

The edges of the window chipped away as more of the tiny objects flew and collided into the edges of the window. It didn't take a genius to figure out they were being shot at.

"I'll tell you later!" Mila shouted. She grabbed Labrys by the cuff of her hoodie with her robotic limb, then rolled the gynoid towards the doorway in a freakish display of strength. The gynoid landed hard against the wall of the hallway, right as Mila ducked after her. Lynyrd flew to join them.

All three took shelter in the hallway as the room became pelted by gunfire. Pieces of shredded wood and furniture flew where every one of the shots hit.

"Son of a bitch," Mila growled. She retrieved her Black Blade, flicking its sharp point out of its handle. "To think they would find us this early."

"Indeed. Most troublesome," Lynyrd spoke in a serious tone that was at odds with his appearance.

Mila turned to Lynyrd. "Who do you think it could be?"

Lynyrd's mohawk unfurled. "There's only one way to find out."

A form began to materialize beside the bird. A form that settled into the shape of a very bizarre creature.

It had a head shaped like a beehive with eyes that looked like honeycombs, its mouth a miniscule, curved beak. The head was attached to a torso consisting of a ribcage and a spinal cord which trailed beneath it like a tail, while a pair of miniscule angel's wings grew out of the back of its shoulder blades. Its arms were long and bony, ending in clawed hands that gripped what looked like an old-fashioned video game controller, its wire plug leading to the back of its scalp through the open spaces in its ribcage.

"You're goin' to use Free Bird?" Mila said.

Lynyrd stared back at Mila. Despite being a tiny bird in an adorable vest, his avian eyes held the same powerful will that Labrys saw in the eyes of the other robot girl in the memory of the attack on the bridge.

"You got any better ideas?"

Mila stared back into the room. The gunfire had stopped, the room desolated. Holes covered everything from the fallen paintings to the toppled bookshelves and chairs.

"No. I don't. But be careful."

"Ms. Schon, I'm always careful," Lynyrd said. A purple glow covered both the bird and his Stand as it raised its arms and pressed the "start" button on the controller. The moment it did, Labrys saw a single insect leave one of Free Bird's honeycomb eyes, flying into the room and out through the window, towards the direction of the gunshots.

* * *

"Huh. I missed."

On the roof of an adjacent building stood a monstrous creature. His skin was like charcoal, his face taken up by a circular blue mask that had a diamond-shaped mouth and droopy, bug-like glossy yellow eyes covered in vertical bands. Beneath the mask was a large chin that contained a pair of thick lips, formed into an annoyed scowl. His bulky body wore the same police uniform that he wore as Officer Ciambella, his human disguise.

The creature flicked the gun in his hand, its barrel still smoking. A silver revolver, which the creature spun with the dexterity of a master gunslinger despite his cumbersome appearance.

"The Colt Single Action Army. The greatest handgun ever made," The creature sniffed the gun. He popped the barrel open and discarded all six bullets inside which disintegrated before they hit the ground. He spat a dark oily substance from his lips into the empty chamber, which formed into new bullets as they settled.

"Six bullets. More than enough to kill anything that moves."

The chamber locked back in with a dexterous flick of the creature's wrist. He pointed it back towards the open window of the house where his target has found refuge.

"And that's especially true with my ability , **「** Finger on the Trigger **」**. As long as that Sho brat does his job of keeping that Fugo guy off my back, then this will be an easy kill."

The creature licked his lips as it formed a grin that stretched to his dark ears. He tipped his officer's cap, looking small on his bulbous head.

"I, Peach Fuzz, shall be the one to earn the honor of slaying the Anti-Shadow Suppression Weapon!"

 **~BRIBED FUZZ-TYPE SHADOW HUMAN: PEACH FUZZ~**

Peach Fuzz's finger wound tight around the trigger of his gun. He leveled his aim, specifically at a spot in the room that was free of the holes he had made. He didn't see his target, but that was fine. He just wanted to make more holes in the room.

He was about to squeeze the trigger, when he was distracted by a buzzing noise.

The Shadow Human looked at his shoulder. There was a bee on it. One that had the same striped eyes that he had, along with a body covered in a metallic sheen, antennae that looked like satellite dishes, and a thorax and stinger combination that resembled a three-pronged electrical plug. The insect's abnormal appearance was not lost even on a creature as strange as Peach Fuzz.

"What the hell?"

 **TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

This chapter is a bit on the short side, but I still had fun writing it. Namely because it introduces Sho Minazuki, everyone's favorite edgy Rule-Smashing Pun Machine, as well as more set up to move the plot forward and the proper introduction of Peach Fuzz, the next Shadow Human opponent.

But, now for the downer piece of news.

I might not be updating for a while, but for a good reason. I'm finally fed up with my current job which has pretty much robbed me a good chunk of my life and stressed me to the point of illness, so I'm currently doing extensive job hunting. Between preparing for interviews and having to deal with the stress and workload of my current job, I don't really expect to have much time to update in between, at least before I finally accept a new position. I can't really put a length of time on when I will finally land another job, so I just ask my readers to be mindful and respectful of that. Getting a new job is very important to me.

Once I do however, I do plan on getting more updates for this fic and my other one (Devil Hunter Yang, which seems to be more popular than I expected despite two chapters in), perhaps on a potential alternating schedule. Even the grueling process of a job hunt cannot diminish my love of writing.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best,  
Beef


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